Alien: Daemons
by Jord
Summary: COMPLETE A new facility enables the reinvention of the future:time travel. The Alien species can be brought back at any point in time. A journey 250yrs back to the beginning of the end is their last desperate hope for survival.
1. Chapter 1

EARTH 

UNITED AMERICAS

MILITARY HEARING

0500 HRS

'Right. The checklist tells me that you're all here. I apologize, gentlemen, for bringing you here on such short notice, but circumstances demand it. Some new information has been brought up that I think requires our immediate attention –'

A voice interrupted. 'Just us? Don't you think we should inform the other military unions?'

The speaker glared for a moment, and continued. 'Discretion is advised, Stemper. Discretion because at this point in time we are unsure as how to proceed with this new information. As you know, Project Aurora has been in progress for twenty years now. But that's just what the public has heard. In truth, the research, the experiments and the tests have lasted for almost a century. I have been informed that recent tests on equipment batch thirty-seven have been successful.' He paused dramatically, listening to the quiet murmur of the voices of the panel. When the noise died down, he proceeded. 'This could have a great significance on the world as we know it. But with the United Peace Mission having such a stronghold in the world today, if they got a hold of this information, Project Aurora will soon be scrapped. Do not underestimate our need for secrecy.'

Just then a hand shot up. The speaker sighed in frustrated acknowledgement as he pointed towards the raised hand. A person of small stature rose. Her short cropped dark hair framed the innocent features, and when she spoke her voice was a far cry from the brash sounds of most generals. The speaker sighed again. General Analee Call. The only android in the damned military – if it were up to him, she wouldn't even be here. After a mysterious "incident" ninety years ago with the Auriga, Call had been one of four survivors to escape with her life. What she was doing on a military vessel in the first place, stupefied him, but the media and other pro-android groups had viewed this as an act of heroism. More importantly, some politicians in Congress supported her move to serve the public, and the speaker was both distressed and fearful of the decision. Nevertheless, she had been reprogrammed and instated into the UA Marine Corps. There, she made for herself a distinguished record rising up the ranks from Private to Lieutenant. Two decades later, the sixth World War had ensued, and almost a third of the population of the United Americas had been wiped out. In a last desperate stand, Call had commanded a small fleet of ships against their enemies, and in turn had reconquered some of their lost territory. She contributed to victory and recovery in a large way, had emerged as a hero once more, and was promoted to a General. With her, she brought a sense of loyalty and integrity to the position. She was, by far, the most humanitarian member of the military and therefore to him – the least valuable.

'Sir, if I may, what impact will this have on the data obtained from the older D-52 models?'

'You've lost me, General Call. Please specify.'

'If you might recall, Sir, others like myself have worked with the outdated android models for historical research purposes only and have recovered information about a company by the name of Weyland Yutani.' She raised her eyebrows hopefully, guessing that he had remembered. She guessed wrong.

'What does this have to do with the success of Project Aurora?' The impatience in his voice grew, and some shuffled in their seats nervously. They did not enjoy seeing the Secretary General of Military Affairs angry. It was never a pretty sight.

'If Weyland Yutani succeeded in their "affairs", what's to stop us from continuing their work? The Bioform Organisms Division will soon demand that we add a third member to the species list.'

Suddenly, he remembered. How could it have slipped his mind? To complete gaps in the historical archives, the military had agreed to the retrieving of data previously branded as confidential. The data was located in old outdated android models, and people like Call had been summoned to extract the information. The information revealed that employees of Weyland Yutani had encountered an organism of incredible potential. It was as highly adaptable and efficient as it was lethal. The Auriga had actually transported this very creature before there was a reported systems failure – he doubted the claim – and then the Auriga had crashed, taking everything but four survivors with it. Cloning would prove impossible since there was nothing to work from, and the project came to a screeching halt. But now, now with the success of Project Aurora, it could continue. In fact, anything could be possible. _Anything_.

His eyes glinted as his mouth turned upwards into a smile. 'Thank you for bringing this to my attention, General. It looks like many things are possible with this new discovery. This would mean that I have many priorities. The Weyland Yutani data will certainly be one of them.'

Instead of sitting down, Call continued to speak. 'But Sir, under the terms of compliance of the United Peace Mission, we cannot own biological weapons - it would be illegal to bring back this species. May I remind you that it will have lethal consequences – not just to one man – but to the whole human race as we know it. We're talking complete obliteration here, Sir!'

He thumped his fist loudly on the stand. 'I am fully aware of the consequences! The knowledge of the damned Peace Mission does not extend beyond the information we've gained from Project Aurora! And this is just a grain of sand on the beach, General. I have other issues to deal with! That will be all from you!' Although his voice remained loud and angry, the Secretary General of Military affairs could barely contain his excitement. There was great potential to be sought in Weyland Yutani's recovered files – and he did not want to reveal this eager anticipation – especially to the damned android. His thoughts echoed repeatedly in his head. "_Anything is possible."_

A MONTH LATER

ILLINOIS

2130 HRS

A loud rap sounded on the door. Three times, and then silence. The woman limped towards to the door trying to deny the pain by taking longer strides. She cursed silently. Her dark curly hair was turning grey around the corners of her forehead, but her eyes held the same intensity as they did several years ago. She pressed a button near the doorway as it slid open.

'Jesus, Ripley, don't you ever want to know who you're letting in? It could be dangerous!' 

'Dangerous? For whom?'

Call walked in and stood in front of the woman. The contrast between them was clearly apparent. Ripley stood more than six feet off the ground while Analee Call was only slightly more than five. Call constantly appeared to be in her early twenties while Ripley was beginning to look older as each day wore on.

'Still the hospitable host. Aren't you going to invite me to sit down?' asked Call, smiling up at the older woman.

'No need. You're going to anyway.'

They walked towards the small living room. Call flopped down onto a worn-out couch. She fiddled with a thermostat control near it, which warmed up the seat. Ripley had always kept the apartment cold, keeps the bugs out, she used to say. Call sat in silence, looking out the window for a few minutes. Ripley humored her quiet mood, and gazed patiently with an animal-like quality at the only person she dared call her friend. 

Call broke the chilling silence. 'Ripley.'

'What?'

'Remember when we spoke a week earlier? About the possibility of changing the course of history?'

'Yes. You said that you couldn't elaborate – military confidentiality was required.'

'I think I'm about to breach that right now.'

'Really.' She smiled, as if humoring the android in front of her. 

'Do you remember, aboard the Auriga, when I asked you how you could go on being who you are...and you said you didn't have much choice. You were right. But that was back then. Now, now things are different. You can change things.'

'I don't tolerate philosophical musings, Call, get to the point.'

'They've created a particle transferer, capable of projecting an organism – without harm – with great speeds into alternate dimensions. Well, one dimension actually. And by using vast amounts of energy from scrapped nuclear weaponry and an old theory –'

'I also don't tolerate fancy language.'

'They can send people back several years. Project Aurora has been deemed entirely successful.'

'So they've created a time machine.' Said Ripley, matter-of-factly.

'You make it sound so cheesy. And it's not a machine – it's an entire facility. But there are a few glitches in the system – it's to be expected, I guess. They predict that it has limited capability and that it can probably only do a thousand years back, max.' 

'I'd have thought you'd be more excited.'

'I was, at first.'

'But now, something's changed your mind.' guessed Ripley.

'Yes. I'm going against my new programming...breaking their code of silence like this. But I was initially created to protect humanity. And that's embedded in me – it can never be erased.'

'So you're going to rise to the occasion once more? Why?'

'They've found out about Weyland Yutani's little secret.' she said quietly.

Suddenly, Ripley grabbed the sides of her seat. Her knuckles turned white but her face remained bland. She said nothing, so Call continued. 'I've been informed that they're going to try to acquire the species again. They claim it's for research purposes only. That's the lamest excuse yet. What I don't understand is why they can't see! It's kind has killed so many...so many! To get it would be to repeat history, to repeat the death and the suffering all over again. They can do better things with what they've found instead of chasing daemons – why prioritize this?'

Ripley loosened her grip on the chair and breathed in deeply. 'Don't you see? This way, your General can win the war. With what he thinks will result in minimum casualties. And then almost half your population wouldn't have to be wiped out. But I don't see why he can't just alter events leading to the war.'

'I do. Winning a war's much easier than altering the workings of the system. He'd have to go back and change the way other Governments function, he'd have to eliminate key players – most of them unknown. He'd have to still send soldiers to do this job – and we'd have no clue what this would have on the future as we know it. But if he simply finds a way to kill the spider without reweaving its web, that'd be much easier...'

'Then you have to tell the UPM.'

'The United Peace Mission? It'd take months of paperwork and discussions to do something about it. I should've stopped it when I had the chance – I've been kept from knowing this information. But they've done their homework, Ripley. They know my history – they know that if I got wind of this earlier none of this would have happened.'

Ripley frowned. 'What do you mean – if you knew about this earlier? There's still time, right?'

Call bent her head down and shook it. 'No. Tomorrow's my deadline. They're leaving for wherever...no, whenever, tomorrow. I don't even know what date and time they're going back to. There's nothing I can do now.'

Ripley chuckled eerily. 'Yes there is.'

Call looked intently back at Ripley as the only apparent solution dawned on her. She was willing to put her reputation, her career, her life on the line – but this was much more different. It involved doing something foreign to her, something that could alter the present as she – and millions of others – knew it. 

'You want me to go back, to follow them.'

Ripley nodded. 'It's the only way to be sure.'

'This could have an impact on the...future. What if something goes wrong? They won't let me...'

'You have access to the facility, don't you? Replace the name of one of the team member's with yours. Surely you can do that. By the time your General realizes what had happened you'll be far far away.' She laughed again.

'I can't do that. It's wrong.'

'Think of the stakes here. Either you can choose to appease your conscience or accept the fact that it won't exist once "they" get down here.'

Call stared down glumly at her shoes. She wanted more of an argument for why she should risk her sanity and plunge herself into such a situation. But her logical mind told her that a decision would have to be made soon, while there was still time to do so. 'You're right. I guess I'll have to leave. But I'll need help.'

Call looked hopefully at Ripley. But Ripley shook her head and smiled as she spoke. 'Look at me, Call. Look at what their cloning has done to me. They've accidentally speeded up the aging process. I'm not going to be of much use.'

Call's face grew anxious. 'But I don't have time to find people I can trust! And you know I can't go to the military. There's just no time...'

'You'll have to find someone, Call. I actually have a personal recommendation for you. Someone in the past.'

'Someone back in time? Who?'

Ripley breathed in deeply before speaking. 'Me.'


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

Call said nothing. She was too stunned to speak.

Ripley, however, tried to justify her choice. 'Who better than me, Call? I made a hobby out of killing its kind, why stop now?'

She didn't want to do this. It took time for her to accept the concept of going back in time – as absurd as it sounded, but actually meeting figures from the past, people she knew, or did not know rather...her head swooned and she caught armrest of the couch to steady herself. 

'This is not the time to have an information overload, Call. You have work to do. Look, it's eleven already. What time does the operation team leave?'

'Uh...f-five in the morning.' she stammered.

'Then you have six hours to get going.'

'Come with me, Ripley,' she pleaded, 'if not all the way, at least come with me while I find out about their mission objective.'

'That would compromise my situation, don't you think? Since we landed here on earth, I've been spending most of my time blending into the shadows. If they found out about me-'

'I'll protect you.'

She laughed out loud. 'It's not me I'm worried about. I'd just have to kill anyone who found out. And I know you wouldn't approve.'

'Fine. I'll do this myself.'

Before Ripley could retort, Call was out of her apartment and into the hall. She walked grimly towards the elevator and got in. As the doors were closing, a hand shot in, and stopped them from doing so. It was Ripley.

'If anyone gets in my way...' she warned, looking down at Call. Call said nothing and smiled.

ANCHORAGE, ALASKA

0300 HRS

The cold wind stung their faces, while the snow swirled about them angrily. It was still dark as the two companions trudged their way in deep snow towards a large compound.

'We find a way to travel back in time, but we still can't control nature. And I wish nobody had decided to design me to react to temperatures the way people do...' said Call as she shivered and pulled her parka close around her.

'I like it.' spoke Ripley.

'You would.' said Call sarcastically. 'I was surprised they let you in. You'd better hold on tight to that visitor's pass. It's the only way they'll let you out.'

'Well, I'm with General Call. Who would suspect anything?' She looked intently at the compound in front of her. 'It's small. And less guarded than I expected it to be.'

'Oh there'll be plenty of guards and security systems once we get it. And in case you're wondering, Pandora's box is deep underground. This is just the gift wrapping.'

As they neared the entrance, they could see six guards at their post. Ripley and Call walked past them to the heavy door. A small speakerphone beeped and an automated voice could be heard against the shrill wind about them. 'Authorization please.' it said.

Call placed her palm on a bare grey panel next to the door. A light beside it went from red to green. 'Welcome, General Call.'

Ripley followed behind her as the door slid open. The hallway was actually a tunnel, with more guards inside. Ripley squinted her sharp eyes, but couldn't make out where the tunnel ended. She kept on walking behind Call until they came to another heavyset door on the left. 

'Where are we going?' whispered Ripley.

'Into the control room. It's not too far now. And don't whisper, it might draw attention to us.'

'I don't like this place much. How much longer till we're there?'

Call ignored her and looked around as she walked. It was obvious that this mission had been eagerly anticipated by everyone here. Military personnel walked briskly by the two of them with solemn faces, but their eyes betrayed their excitement. But as Ripley and Call went deeper underground, into the control room, they encountered fewer personnel and more guards. Security was tight. Call was glad that she didn't have to resort to breaking in.

Finally they entered a large room framed with unbreakable glass. 'We're there.' she told Ripley as she sat down at a console. 'All I have to do now is plug in...and make a few changes.'

Ripley glanced around her nervously. It was not like her to be this anxious, usually she didn't care. But a life of moving around from place to place, while at the same time avoiding people made her feel uneasy every time she was among them. She thought that ironic since she was technically, part human. But the truth was, she never felt as if she fit in. They were too complex a species, but the complexity was their fault. All the destruction and the suffering of their world – they had brought on themselves. Just like they were planning to do again.

'I have it.' said Call, pulling a wire out of her arm.

'That was fast.' said Ripley. 

'Technology is a wonderful thing.'

'Huh.' grunted Ripley in reply.

'They're going about three hundred and fifty-eight years back. The arrival site's going to be a small entry and lodging station just above the earth's atmosphere called Terron-'

'Terron...' murmured Ripley.

Call's eyebrows shot up. 'You know it?' she asked.

'The station is jointly owned by Weyland Yutani and some other company.'

'You remember then.'

'Just pieces...go on.'

'Well, we'll be arriving there. And from there we're going to have to get information about LV426. What we got from the old androids doesn't provide us with enough data about LV426's coordinates or what to expect. All we got from them is that the military's tried several times – all unsuccessful – to capture the alien. And it was a type A1 classification, meaning that the species is considered to be extremely valuable. For both a military and research purpose. Anyway, the only piece of info we could make sense of was when something went wrong up on LV426. Apparently, contact was lost with a team of people doing god-knows-what over there, and that dates back about three hundred and fifty-seven years from now.'

'What about the Queen?' asked Ripley suddenly. 'Do they have any information about her?'

Call's brows furrowed. 'It's possible. I mean, the creature won't be any use to the military if they can't propagate. And they can't do so without the Queen. So they must know about it.'

Ripley sighed. 'Did they have any information on me?'

'Nothing. I guess we got lucky. If they don't know about your "hobbies" back then, they won't bother trying to eliminate you.'

'Not lucky enough. How're you going to find me?'

'By using your memories, Ripley. You said that you remember something about families dying on a planet. And facing your worst fear again. I figure that the families are the people they lose communication with on LV426. And that you must have volunteered to go and retrieve them.'

'That's the only memory I have of fear...' spoke Ripley quietly. 

Call stayed silent for a moment. She looked at her friend sadly. To have faced such horrors in the past, to remember nothing else but the impending torment of death, only to have to succumb to it and be brought back again with such memories stirred Call's emotions. Worse yet, Ripley's memories weren't complete; they didn't give her a sense of her past. Not that she would ever want to recall it, thought Call.

'I'm sorry.' said Call, as her artificial tear ducts made her eyes moist.

'Don't be. It's a waste of emotion. Just get the job done and get back here.'

Call swallowed and her eyes grew wide, as if suddenly remembering something. She spoke quickly. 'There's just one more thing. There's a possibility that I may not come back. I mean, a lot of energy is going into getting us there. If there's a systems failure on our journey back here, it's very likely that most of us may not return. But the designers have planned it such that if that event does occur, only two marines and three aliens will be brought back. My plan is to impede their plan. I'll have to find a way to kill it, along with any evidence of it that might be available in the future. I also might have to sabotage their equipment, along with any means of my getting back here.' 

Ripley stood stock still. Suddenly she felt an emptiness seeping into her. She tried to cover it up by being practical. 'You haven't really thought through this very well, have you?'

'There isn't time to write the musical score, I'll have to play it by ear.'

'You should get going then. You have less than two hours.' 

'Is there anything you'd like me to do? I mean, if I see you...the older you...'

For the first time, Ripley referred to herself in third person. As if acknowledging the fact that she was a different entity from that which she came from. 'I don't think she'd like to end up as me. Could you see to it that she doesn't? For both our sakes?'

'I'll try my best.'

At that moment, three guards entered the room. Ripley froze, and tensed her muscles up for any fight that might ensue. Call got up from her seat calmly and faced them.

The man in front of her spoke. 'General Call? We've been instructed to remove your visitor from the premises immediately. She should only have access to Level 1. Please allow us to escort her out.'

'Sure, as long as you see to it that she doesn't come to any harm. She's quite elderly, you know.' She said it for their benefit. She knew that Ripley was extremely capable of defending herself when the need arose – despite her age.

'Yes General.' And then he turned to Ripley. 'This way please, ma'am.'

Call watched Ripley turn her back and walk out, suddenly realizing that she would probably never see her again. She wanted to stop time, to stop everything as she knew it and wished for better things. Both for her and for her friend. She felt so alone, and it was then that she fully understood Ripley's solitariness. Being in a situation that no one would understand, let alone acknowledge, deepened the bond between them in an instant. Call wanted more time to say goodbye the proper way, not some rushed mockery of a farewell to her only friend. And in that moment, Call wanted to take everything that she had thought and said, back. She didn't want to do this - and instantly decided not to. Why should she? Heck, let some other Good Samaritan save the world for a change and let her go back to her world, her time, and her life. But she wasn't given that chance.  
Just then Ripley spun around and faced Call one last time. 'Wait, wait...I remember someone, a little girl. I think she was my daughter. Take care of her, Call. And don't miss me. We'll meet again.'

And then she was gone.


	3. Chapter 3

UNDERGROUND MILITARY FACILITY

0345 HRS

"You know you weren't supposed to bring guests along...for heaven's sake, Call, this is a military facility, not a tropical resort!"

Call gazed steadily back at her colleague, General Michaels. His hair was in disarray, his eyes bloodshot and his temper short. For years now, General Michaels had been involved in Project Aurora. He was irritatingly organized...so much so that if the slightest thing went wrong, it could throw his own well-planned world into chaos. She was feeling the effects of his chaos.

Call remained calm. "I didn't compromise security. She used to...be part of the military at one point. She can be trusted."

"Trusted?" he squeaked.

"Yes. You can hold me personally responsible if any valuable information leaks out." Call chuckled inwardly. Being held responsible was the least of her worries. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have somewhere else to be."

She walked past him coolly, brushing against his shoulder in the narrow corridor.

*          *          *

She walked into a room filled with men and women. On seeing her, they rose from their seats and saluted her.

"At ease," she said, a little awkwardly. "I know that you all weren't expecting me, but there's been a change of plans. I'll be leading the team – namely you people – into...into..." she stuttered.

"-the past." completed one of the officers before her.

"Thanks." she said.

"No worries, General...I have a little trouble with that concept myself."

Call smiled. She then accessed her memory databank to find out the names of the twenty people on her team. They scrolled down before her in her mind. Yes, she'd been introduced to several of them before, with the exception of about three or four new recruits. Overall, they looked a pretty competent bunch. 

Her thoughts suddenly flashed back to the soldiers on board the Auriga. They all believed they were fighting for a good cause. But they had been deceived, betrayed, and each had finally met his or her horrific end. They didn't deserve to die the way they did. No one did. She wondered if the same fate would befall the marines standing in front of her now. Call didn't think she could take the death and the pain all over again. No. It wouldn't happen. She wouldn't let it happen.

She sat down on a steel bench nearby, and brushed away her thoughts.

"So. Looks like we got thirty minutes to kill." Call wanted to initiate a conversation, albeit one that would be full of nervous tension. "How are you all feeling?"

A man – Call recalled that his name was Kroger – breathed in loudly, and spoke first. "To be honest, I don't really know. All I know is, I'm as nervous as _hell_. I mean, this ain't like some combat or rescue mission. And it ain't like we're going to some unknown territory. Hell, we're going back to some unknown _time."_

"Scares the heck outta all of us, Kroger. But we have to stay cool." said another Private. 

"So, General...I bet you heard more about this thing we're going to recover. Back in the day, it was called a xenozorf...?"

"Xenomorph." Call corrected. 

"They say they needed it for scientific studies? I sure as hell don't enjoy collecting butterflies for no one. Can't they find some other way to pursue their interests?" 

Call was startled. So these people hadn't been informed that the collection of the alien species was for military purposes only? They didn't know. The implications of this hit her hard. If they weren't aware of this, how much – exactly – were they aware of?

"This _thing_, Kroger...this thing is no butterfly. It's lethal, it's more dangerous than all of you put together." said Call.

"Oh c'mon...you make us sound like little red riding hood. If you ask me, the hard part's getting back into the past. The rest is a cinch. Get to LV-426, bag those babies and shuffle back here with our prize."

"Yeah, how bad can it be? If it was so lethal, we'd have heard more about it. The Secretary General himself would've warned us. You've got some wrong information, General." Spoke another voice from behind Kroger.

"I don't have incorrect information." said Call quietly.

"Then how...?"

"-I've seen it."

The room went silent. Just then, an automated voice could be heard. "Unit 5A please report to base level one. Unit 5A please report to base level one. Mission Aurora is underway."

*          *          *

They called it the "shuttle" when in reality it was a large, heavily-constructed elevator of sorts. It shook thunderously as it lowered its way down the shaft, grating against the walls. Call sat silently in a corner with several other military men and women, her jaws clenched tightly together. Her apprehension heightened for a moment, but then she smiled at the irony of it all. Here she was, worrying about dying in this damned elevator, when something much more colossal both in deed and danger lay before her.

"Call?" said a baby-faced young man seated across from her, noticing her smile. "Something funny?" 

Call was used to being addressed informally. She never really took to military formalities very well, unless they were absolutely essential. Plus, she enjoyed being treated as they treated one another – it not only gained her popularity but helped build a good rapport with those ranked below her.

"No, not really." Her smile vanished as she thought of the dangerous possibilities that awaited them. "Just a brief minute of ironic humor, Janson." She was momentarily relieved that they'd dropped the subject of the alien. She felt that they were too.

"Speaking of irony, how'd you get to be on this mission? I thought the Sec. General was adamant that you weren't to be notified..." A Private seated next to Janson shot him a look to say that what went on behind the façade of military harmony was not a subject to be discussed.

Oblivious to that look, Call went on. "A change of plans. The Secretary General doesn't have full say on everything that goes on, Janson – even if he thinks he does. I've decided that he's compromised a lot of things by sending you lot on this wild goose chase to nowhere. So I'm tagging along to make sure things don't spiral out of control."

"I'm sure he's acting in everyone's best interest."

Call looked away. It was no use arguing with the eagerness of a man just out of military school. "Maybe. Maybe not." She decided to change the topic. "So what's with this piece of trash anyway?" she said, rapping her knuckles against the metal walls of the elevator.

"Yeah, ain't it?" spoke a woman, grinning broadly. "You'd think that if they could construct a friggin' time machine, they sure as hell can build a damn lift, huh? Hell no. Ain't no one here who can tell me why we're traveling in a trash compactor."

Janson rose to the occasion. "They didn't have much time. Too much was spent on this time traveling project alone, building a lift to send troops in isn't exactly top priority, if you get what I mean. As long as it gets us there in one piece, I'm happy."

The woman's grin disappeared. "Yeah, jerkoff, you would be. I seen you – I seen you rubbing shoulders with top brass trying to make a name for yourself...man, you're so friggin' naïve. They're gonna eat your praises and sweet little attitude, chew it up and then spit it back out like you're the scum of the universe."

Janson's cheeks grew flushed, and he opened his mouth, ready for a retort, when the elevator screeched to a grinding halt.

For a minute, everything was silent. Then the sounds of doors sliding open could be heard. 

"We're here." said Call. 

*          *          *

They stepped outside the lift, into a enormous domed shaped-room, with technicians flitting about in white lab coats, and soldiers standing stiffly at their individual posts. The tension was palpable and for a few moments, Call forgot to swallow. 

A soldier – probably a lieutenant, thought Call – marched up to her, and saluted.

"Welcome General Call, ma'am! This way to the briefing room, please."

"I had the impression that all these soldiers had been briefed a few days ago, Lieutenant."

"That's correct, Ma'am. But it's standard military regs to have these repeated sessions. It's preparation, in event of any accident that could occur, Ma'am. This way, if you will."

Call sighed, the briefing would be of no use to her. She already had the details locked away securely in her memory. The repetition would only serve as to make her more anxious. "Maybe I'll just sit this one out, Lieutenant."

"Very good, Ma'am. But maybe you'd prefer to go into that room to your right. Lieutenant Andrews over there will get you suited up, so that you'll be all good to go once we're done with the briefing."

"Will do." said Call, as she watched the troops, her troops now, she corrected – follow the lieutenant into another section of the over-sized room. 

She walked over to the room on her right, greeted Lieutenant Andrews with a slight nod. On entering, she looked about her and saw twenty bulky suits situated next to each other, with the name of each suit's wearer stenciled neatly above it. She looked over at Andrews who was holding a computerized slate in one hand, and an electronic pen in another. 

Andrews frowned and then spoke. "Looks like your name isn't on the list, General. There must be some error...but I'm afraid that if it isn't there..."

"When did you last update your information, Lieutenant?" interjected Call. 

"Uh – two days ago, but I didn't see any need to –"

"ALWAYS make sure your information is current, Lieutenant. Please do so immediately." Call swallowed, trying to mask her nervousness with firm authority. What if Call hadn't successfully managed to add her name to the list before? What if the Secretary General already knew of her plan? What if Ripley...

"Your name's here, General. I'm extremely sorry about this. Really, I am."

"That's okay. Just don't let it happen again." _If there would ever be a next time_, thought Call. She breathed in deeply. "So where do I suit up?"

Lieutenant Andrews grinned sheepishly. "Well...actually, since I didn't know you were going to be here, we didn't have a suit made in your size, General. But we have two spares – a bit larger than you may be used to though."

"I don't think I was ever used to something as large as this," spoke Call, nodding towards the suits. "Why the er...extra padding?"

"The padding's actually a form of fibrous lead, General. To protect the wearer from intense radiation that may be emitted on your journey. It's going to be heavy when you get in, but in zero gravity, you should have no problems moving around."

"Good."

"I'm sorry to have to cut to the chase, but time is running short and I need to know if you prefer to wait for your troops or to suit up and enter the dilation chambers straight away."

"What's the difference?" asked Call.

"Well, if you choose to begin the procedure right now, we'll have to anesthetize you to sleep, so essentially...you won't wake up until you get to your destination. We're not employing the hypersleep chambers because of the risks involved in this type of situation."

Call thought about it for a minute. Fear grew steadily in her. The idea that she was going – willingly – towards death, placed her emotions in turmoil. She had to do something, and fast. Call knew that there was always the possibility that she would change her mind, and she couldn't take that risk. Better to get it all over and done with, until there's no turning back.

"Now." she said quietly.

"I'm sorry?" spoke Andrews, leaning forward.

"I'd like to go now."

*          *          *

She looked out the thick plastic room she was in. She could see Andrews outside it, smiling encouragingly, but could hear no more than the own sound of her breathing. Suddenly a crackle of an intercom being turned on sounded above her.

"General Call, I've reduced the room to a complete vacuum. You're in zero gravity conditions right now. You'll find that you can easily move in your suit. If you would please walk towards the chamber in front of you..."

Call placed one foot in front of the other, feeling as if she was out of her own body. She looked towards the upright chamber. _My God, she thought, _it looks just like a damned coffin_! _

Within seconds, she was in it, and the transparent lid clicked closed with a soft thud. She heard the steady hiss of a gas entering the chamber, and finally her suit. It's only the anesthetic vapor, she told herself, nothing more. She forced herself to think of other things. Thoughts flew in like rapid gunfire. Where would she be when she finally woke up? What would she do when she got there? She found herself thinking of Ripley. Ripley. If only she were here. But she would be. Just not the same person she knew. Call's vision blurred for an instant, and she blinked her eyes to clear it. She suddenly saw a picture in her mind's eye – of Ripley – when she first saw her, locked away in a cell aboard the Auriga. Suddenly the blurriness intensified and Call began to panic. Not yet, she was not ready to die yet. But she was not dead. And it was too late to turn back, too late...and then everything went black. 


	4. Chapter 4

Molting black shapes, danger and fear and adrenaline all combined into something too terrifying to describe. She couldn't really see this dark threat, but she knew it was there. Did she really? Or was this just a dream? _Synthetics don't dream, said a logical voice at the back of her mind. Man had created synthetics in their likeness, with the ability to feel – both physiologically and emotionally – but it had never been scientifically proven that they could actually dream. Then again, there weren't many folks around who were too concerned about that fact. Suddenly, a jolt again. So was this a dream or was it real? Dammit, she needed to know! She recalled a similar surrealistic feeling aboard the Auriga. When Elgyn had died. When that __thing had burst through his chest, oh God, please don't let be real. Another surge of fear. The newborn. It was searching, groping for her...__I've got to get away. I have to get away. Now!_

Call awoke with a loud yell. Her eyes opened wide to take in what was around her. Her right hand – enclosed in the tough suit - had crashed through the transparent plastic that contained her. Her left hand had pushed part of the plastic so hard that a spider web-like crack was the only evidence of its impact. _I'm on the ship_, she thought. _I'm on the ship going back in time. But I'm alive. I'm okay_. She lay back in her chamber, panting. As each second passed, she was becoming more aware of her surroundings. She heard a soft beeping noise that was muffled through her suit and the plastic lid. It was coming from outside. She looked around for a catch that would open the contraption she was in. On finding it, the lid slowly rose and Call stepped out of it cautiously. She shuffled stiffly in her suit, and took it off as quickly as possible.

Her bare feet touched the icy floor, and her skin felt the chill of the cool air on board the ship. She looked back at the chamber she was in, and smiled at the cracked lid. At least she still had her strength. She looked around at the other twenty chambers. Everyone was sound asleep. _Or soundly drugged, she thought. She walked over towards the sound of the beeping, hearing it grow louder as she approached it. She stood before a glowing vid screen and read it. "WARNING: Stasis interrupted in cell 5. Life signs no longer detectable." She logged in, and cancelled the detector in her cell. The beeping stopped._

So where in the world were they now? She searched the computer files for a map or a coordinate system, and brought it up on the screen before her. 'Search for current position coordinates.' she said. Immediately the screen was flooded with numbers and letters – a mass of information. Call was able to decipher it in seconds. Earth was only a few million miles away - earth two hundred and fifty seven years ago. So they had arrived. Call felt strange. 

So where was this space docking station they were supposed to locate called Terron? She searched for any detectable life signs on board any ships within a two million mile radius and came up with seventy-eight. _Well that narrows it down, she thought. So now what? _

'Yes, now what?' said a voice inside her head. It sounded like Ripley's. 'You've come to do what you set out to do. You're in command of this mission, so get on with it.' Call closed her eyes momentarily. It's what Ripley would've said if she was here. _So don't let's waste time_, she thought. She had to know exactly what was going on. She had to formulate some kind of plan. Let's start with the team. She brought up a list of the twenty marines. First on the list was Lieutenant Mills, a pretty stiff fellow – but dependable when the need arose. Second, Lieutenant Jesep – a woman she had met before on another mission. Call scrolled down the list quickly. Corporal Reese, Private Kroger, Private Janson, Private Shepards, Private Velko, Private Adams, Private Johans, Private Bohr, Private Ediman, Private Gayle, Private Franklin, Private Wilkins, Private Rosenberg, Private Baz, Private Colley, Private Walker, Private Svedburg and Private Roche. That was the entire list – seven women and thirteen men. She checked the stasis duration information and noticed that they would all be artificially awakened in twenty-four hours.   

Call paused for a second and recognized that yes, she was in charge of this mission, but only according to the objectives of the military. And those specifically mentioned that the creatures weren't to be harmed. They were to be brought back alive. She shuddered at the thought. 

Call had her own objectives. To blow those pests sky high. She could see how the team might object. Maybe she'd get a few of them to look at things from her perspective...And then maybe everyone would cry mutiny. No, not good. She had to have full cooperation on this one. And the only way to do this was to pretend to lead them in the right direction, and give them a glimpse of the potential horror they would face. She had two choices. The first was to go to LV-426, the second, to Ripley. It wasn't a hard choice to make.

*          *          *

Call awoke to someone's voice coming from above her.

'General,' Call blinked a few times to rid the sleep. It was Lieutenant Jesep. 

'What?' She rose groggily. She didn't realize that she had fallen asleep. And for twenty-four hours at that! 

'You were out of your dilation chamber when we were awoken. The lid – it was cracked – and I found your empty suit, and then you, out cold.' said Jesep.

'I wasn't knocked out...I had bad dreams. And then I must've cracked that...' she pointed in the direction of the chambers, 'how could I fall asleep like this?' 

Jesep nodded sympathetically. 'It's the concentration of oxygen and carbon dioxide, General. When we're in those chambers, the atmosphere out here isn't like it is back on earth – or on ay other ship for that matter. Oxygen concentration is low and the levels of carbon dioxide are quite high – your tissues didn't receive enough oxygen to keep you up and running for very long.' Then she looked at Call oddly. 'They've designed you well. You're almost like us...'

Call cringed. Jesep saw this and winced. 'I'm sorry – I didn't realize.'

'Forget it.' Call said briskly. She'd tried so hard to fit in with them, but there was no getting around the fact that she was a damned robot, since there were always the signs to remind her that she was one. And she resented that.

'Where are the others?' asked Call.

'On the main deck. They're waiting for you. Listen General, I am sorry...'

'I said, _forget it_.'

*          *          *          

The two of them took the lift to the third level and walked into a large room where everyone was seated talking loudly. Lieutenant Mills approached Call, and spoke to her quietly in a corner. 

'I've spoken to them, General. Basically, I think they're having a hard time grasping the situation. It's natural, I suppose – that some of them are quite disbelieving of this whole concept-'

Call looked at his with amusement in her eyes. 'I don't think they're the only ones, don't you?'

Mills gave in and chuckled softly. 'You're right. I have to admit, I have my own...apprehensions. But let's just please keep this between us, General.'

'Sure.'

'I appreciate it. Now, I think our best option as of now is to...' Lieutenant Mills' voice droned on, and Call wasn't paying any attention to what he was saying. Instead, she looked around her, at the men and women talking excitedly. She was more interested in their dialogue.

Call noticed one of the marines – she thought he was Private Velko – nod towards her, and lower his voice. But Call could still hear.

'So the gossip's on that she's seen one, huh. You tell me, how do we know that's the truth?'

The woman with the close-cropped blonde hair, Bohr, replied. 'She seems genuine. Did you see the fear in her eyes when she started talking about it? And the evidence adds up too. She's old enough to have actually been on board that ship – the Auriga – and I don't have to tell you the rumors about that one.'

'But they're just that. Only rumors. And it was before we were even born, for Christ's sake! How do we know she's not just spinning tales to get one up on the respect ladder?'

'Because she's a synthetic. They're not programmed to lie for their own benefit.' answered Bohr.

'Unless of course, she thinks it's in our best interest to do so.' replied Velko quietly.

At that moment, the two of them looked up and caught Call staring at them. They ceased all conversation, and Call quickly turned back to Mills, who was still talking.

'...So yeah, it's apparent that LV-426 isn't in our system. And we don't yet have the technology to detect life forms in other systems other than our own. We might actually have to make discreet contact with people on the outside, and get some of their data readouts.'

Call opened her mouth to speak, but Mills interrupted her. 'I know, I know...you want to get this over and done as much as I do. But it was understood...that things wouldn't go exactly according to plan. It's to be expected, General. I mean, with the limited amount of information that we have to work with – it's not going to be easy to locate the planet...' 

'That's fine, Lieutenant.' said Call.

He apparently didn't hear her. 'I mean, I understand that time is going to play an important factor here, but we're just going to have to accept the fact that we'll have to do some planning and that we might possibly be here for a good long while.'

'I _understand_, Mills.' she said, louder this time. 'More time could actually work to our advantage.'

Mills stuttered. He didn't expect that Call would be so easy-going about this. 'T-that's good, General. I'm glad we both comprehend the circumstances.'

Call turned away, and scratched the back of her neck thoughtfully. Now they'd expect her to come up with an alternative plan. She thanked her stars that she herself was ignorant when it came to the location of LV-426. Her next option was to find Ripley. And the only way to do that was to go through Company channels – namely, Weyland Yutani.  But she couldn't alert her team to the fact that the Company may have access to the alien at this point in time. That's the first place they'd think of going. No, she'd have to provide them with false information that would serve as a distraction while she went searching for a woman she hardly knew. It was a shot in the dark, really. Who knew if Ripley was even around, and if she was...where would she be? _Just gotta play it by ear, she heard her voice repeating to her. She knew this wasn't going to be easy. _

The noise level in the room dropped quickly – they were anticipating new orders. She turned to face them. 

_Let's get this show on the road_, she told herself. 


	5. Chapter 5

'Alright people, you heard the General. I want all you comp technicians to be at your tactical consoles in thirty minutes, tops.' Lieutenant Mills grinned. 'If I don't see your pretty butts at those consoles, I'll take it personally.'

Some of the marines grimaced at the thought. Lieutenant Mills was not noted for his brash voice. He wasn't noted for his lengthy and loud diatribes. What he was noted for, when an order was disobeyed, were three little words: "Come with me." And then your life would swiftly flash before your eyes, as you would wonder what sort of punishment – which were all original and innovative – the Lieutenant would concoct now. 

In the two minutes following his warning, the room was cleared out, with only the smoked out stubs of cigarettes left burning on the floor. 

*          *          *

Private Sebastian Velko slammed his locker shut with his elbow. In his hands, he carried several computer diskettes. He dropped them onto a bench near the lockers and pulled out a wad of licorice-flavored chewing gum from his pocket. Hearing a noise behind him, he whirled around instinctively to face an amused looking Private Bohr.

'_Really Sebastian, just who d'you think you're gonna fool with those disks? Sooner or later boy, the General's gonna smell something foul and the stench will lead right to you.'_

Velko frowned. For one thing, he didn't like being addressed as Sebastian. It made him feel like a household cat. Secondly, he was a pro – he rarely got found out. All computer technicians in the squad were supposed to have four disks, but he had ten. He used to it to keep an eye on the goings on at the top of game – they contained specially designed programs which enabled him to hack into higher user levels and to decode encrypted information. After all, he never trusted anyone, not even the Lieutenants and Generals in whose hands he was supposed to place his trust in. He had often discovered little tidbits of information these higher ranking officials had kept hidden, and the information had always placed Private Velko at an advantage. As long as he never got found out.

'They're letters to my mother.' He said, snatching back a disk which Bohr had picked up.

'It's gotta be one helluva long letter...' retorted Bohr, grinning. 

'Yeah, well. What can I say? I'm a mama's boy.' He smirked at Bohr, and walked out of the locker room to his console.

He ran a hand over his shaved head and grunted. He could swear that Private Bohr had a thing for him. Recently the woman had been following him around like his own shadow, always looking for an occasion to initiate small talk. She didn't act too desperate though – contrary to what he previously had thought – and at times a spark of intelligence showed through. What confused him the most was the fact that she never played up to him. Most of their conversations consisted of her disagreeing with him on one point or another. It was almost as if she used him as an instrument to release some of her anger upon. This little paradox boggled him. What did that mean? He shook his head and decided to leave it to the fact that no matter how quickly the mysteries of the universe were revealed, one would never be able to decipher the complexities of women. 

Once at his console, Velko sat down and looked around. Around him, there were many similar structures; each built of slightly transparent metal that enclosed the computer technician operator (commonly referred to as "tech ops") in their own little world of information and gadgetry. Private Velko adored gadgets. Ever since he was a boy, curiosity overcame him to take apart small household appliances to get a feel of their working mechanisms, and then he would put them back together in a different way so that they performed wholly different functions. His parents, proud of his inquiring mind, decided that his skills would be put to better use at London's Technological Institute – one of the best in the world. There, he displayed a natural aptitude of decoding complex sets of data, impressing most of his peers and professors. It wasn't long before graduation when renowned companies tried to entice him to come work for them. His parents were ecstatic. They had hopes that he would one day become a programming director of one of these firms, and had tried to nudge him in that direction. But a streak of adolescent rebellion remained strong in him, and he opted to join the military instead. He gave his parents the lame excuse that he wanted to serve his country, and three months following his graduation, Sebastian Velko was a Private for the UA Marine Corps. And despite his impulsive decision, he liked it there.

He slyly stuck five of his disks into his personal drawer at the console and inserted four others into the main unit in front of him. He pocketed the remaining one. Velko logged on using his authorization code and when the screen flickered to life in front of him, his fingers blazed across the control panel. One by one, three windows popped up on the large screen before him. Each window represented the other computer technicians on the squad, and enabled each of them to keep in contact with one another. Velko snapped his fingers. He'd almost forgotten. A few seconds later, the room vibrated with the sound of jazz music, fused with a touch of rock. 

He could hear groans coming from the other consoles. 

Velko chuckled. 'Aw c'mon ladies, I'm just trying to make this place a little more livable, you get what I mean?'

'Livable? This crap's loud enough to wake the dead! Turn the damn thing off before Lieutenant Mills gets in here!' shouted back a voice. It was Private Roche. 

'Mills likes this shit. Ain't none of you seen him grooving in the shower? I never saw a Lieutenant get down like that before!' laughed Velko.

Suddenly a calm voice spoke from behind him. 'Your compliments are appreciated. Now, you have five seconds to turn that music off, Private. Five seconds to contemplate the consequences if you disobey my orders.'

_Mills!_ How'd the bastard sneak up on him like that? It must be the super bass in the music, it drowned out all other external noises. Three seconds later, there was complete silence. Velko tried to act nonchalant about the whole thing. 

'You're lucky I don't lock you up in confinement for a week! If I hear one more peep out of you or your entertainment system there, I don't care what the General says, I'm using this time travel crap to send you back to 1125 where you can mingle with the livestock and play the court jester! Am I clear, Private?' hissed Lieutenant Mills.

'Crystal.' replied Velko.

'Now you glue your butt to that seat and log on to the external networks and gather their data readouts. And if, by chance, our ancestors out there,' Mills pointed vaguely, referring to the living populace outside the ship, 'latch onto us and discover that we're here, I won't waste my time finding out who slipped up and gave away our position. I will come straight to you.'

With that, the Lieutenant stormed off, leaving Velko to wallow in his embarrassment.

'Nice going, slick. At this rate, you and Lieutenant Mills are gonna be bosom buddies!' piped up Roche. 

Velko placed his tongue in his cheek and gave Roche a sarcastic smile. He turned around to face his console. It was time to get busy.

*          *          *

Half an hour into his work, Velko leaned back into his seat with his hands clasped together behind his head. He'd managed to discreetly intercept masses of information flowing between different networks outside the ship. He'd sorted them into categories based on importance. Data transfers from civilian units were considered unimportant. Company data transfers came secondary and military ones were top priority. He'd opened three separate windows on his screen, in order to keep an eye on anything out of the ordinary. Anything that involved the mention of the word xenomorph.

He was growing restless. The three other tech ops were sifting through the readouts he had gathered, and there was nothing else he could do at the moment except supervise. Theoretically, of course, thought Velko as a grin spread over his face. It was time to see what he could see.

He whisked out the disk in his pocket, and pushed it into the unit in front of him. It was a program he had written that enabled him to enter most levels that were off limits to someone of his rank. Immediately, he gained access to all user levels linked to this mission. He then set to work on setting up a secure private connection to Private Roche.

'Hey buddy, I'm surveying new worlds here. Mind keeping an eye out for any bugs?' Velko knew the connection was secure as it could possibly be. But he never took anything for granted, so he would often try to speak in code. He wanted Roche to play lookout.

'Sorry Velko, I didn't copy that.' From the other cubicle, Roche grinned to himself. He knew exactly what Velko was getting at, but he often took pleasure from antagonizing the kid. 

'Shut up, man. You know what I mean.'

Roche chuckled again. 'Yeah, yeah. I'll watch your ass. Don't I always?'  

Velko turned to his screen, and logged onto Lieutenant Mill's private console. Nothing out of the ordinary, he thought, as he scrolled down Mills' records. He finally saw something that made him smile. Mills had stored a file of letters and dialogue between his wife and himself. Velko's eyes danced with amusement. He'd have to save this and put it away for later use. He searched more files, but it was all useless. There was nothing there that he didn't know already.

He sighed and decided to move up to better things. It was time to take a peek at General Call's recent activities. Velko thought back to Call's orders earlier in the day. She had instructed them to gather data readouts from external networks, whilst she would pursue other avenues of interest. She didn't specify and Lieutenant Mills didn't ask. But Velko was as curious as hell. As a rule, he didn't trust people much, and he had less faith in androids themselves. Sure, they were designed to protect the human race. But there was no telling when self-preservation would become their primary interest. 

He logged onto her level, and immediately a warning light flashed at the corner of the screen. His entrance had been detected. He had fifty seconds and counting to do something before the main computer narrowed down to the source – which was his console. But Velko never came unprepared. He opened the drawer below him and fumbled about, eventually pulling out yet another disk. He quickly jammed it into the unit and the warning light stopped flashing. This had never happened before. He'd have to update his program on the first disk because they'd stepped up their security.

He checked which files Call had accessed in the past twenty-four hours, and was intrigued by one in particular, titled "Ripley_E". He opened it. At first glance, he noticed nothing unusual. But Call had made notes on a company known as Weyland Yutani. He'd heard the name before, but then, no importance was placed on it. The docking station nearby was merely owned by the company, and that's all he knew. But Call had thought it important. Important enough to locate its headquarters and seal access to this information from everyone but herself. He ran through all her activities and saw something that made his pulse quicken. Call had gotten the main shuttle ready, and in less than one hour, she was going to leave the ship to do a little investigating of her own. She'd sent a private message vaguely describing her intentions to Lieutenant Mills, and apparently, he hadn't received it as yet. Not that Mills would do anything about it. The man was infamous for being a faithful lackey to those high up in the chain of command. 

His green eyes blazed angrily. What the hell did she think she was doing? She was the one who didn't want to compromise their position and here she was, going outside on a little romp by herself. Velko knew she was a part of some secret agenda. One that even the military wasn't aware of. _Boy, he thought. _This must go all the way up_. _

Not if he could help it.

*          *          *

Minutes later, he was by Roche's side, bending down, whispering excitedly into his ear.

Roche spoke back in a fierce whisper. 'No! Not in this life, you little twerp! Do you realize what you're telling me? This isn't junior high where you can play truant whenever it pleases you!'

Velko spoke soothingly, trying desperately to pacify the excited Roche. 'I know, I know...But sometimes we gotta do what we think is right-'

'The military doesn't pay you to think, Velko.' said Roche glaring at him.

'Since when do I follow procedure? And how long has it been since I've made an incorrect assessment of the situation?'

'Allow me to refresh your memory.' spoke back Roche sarcastically.

'Alright, alright. How long has it been since I've made a large, _significant error on my part?'_

Roche remained silent. Velko knew he had him converted. 'Look man, as ridiculous as it sounds now, I'm looking out for all of us. I won't come back without an answer.' 

'Do you realize I could lose my job for this? And that's not the worst of it...'

'Look, all I need to know is one thing. Are you with me on this or not? I'm going to trail Call with or without your help.'

Roche knew that Velko wouldn't get far without his help. He needed someone to watch his back whilst he snuck off to tail Call. And Velko – as good as he was – couldn't be in two places at the same time. 'Right. But from now on, you'll owe me for life. And I'm not kidding.' 

Velko grinned and patted him on the back as he rose. 'Anything, anytime, old buddy.'

*          *          *

Velko watched from the shadows as Call prepped the shuttle. Nobody had suspected anything or noticed his absence as yet. Roche was doing his job well. He slung the backpack over his shoulder and was about to creep into the shuttle when something grabbed his shoulder, startling him so much that he gasped.

'Taking a trip?' It was Bohr. Dammit! The woman had impeccable timing.

'What's it to you? I'm inspecting the shuttle.' he sputtered.

'Oh. Well then. Mind if I join you?'

'Yes.' hissed Velko.

'Hmm. That's odd, I thought you were supposed to be monitoring the other tech ops back there. Not performing janitorial duties back here.' She grinned. She knew she had him.

'Listen to me,' he was trying to refrain from shoving her aside and bolting towards the shuttle. 'I can't explain everything right now, but I'd be eternally grateful-' he winced before continuing, '-eternally grateful if you would please keep this to yourself. I have something that needs attending to.'

'Like hell. You have two options, Sebastian. One, I come with you, or two, I come with you.'

'What? NO!' he almost yelled. He was surprised by her response. He'd expected her to rat him out, not accompany him.

'Not so loud. She might hear you.' she nodded in the direction of the shuttle. 'Make a decision quick, flyboy. You're running out of options.'

He cursed repeatedly before grabbing her by the cloth of her uniform and dragging her to the rear entrance into the shuttle. Once inside, he looked around to see if they'd been noticed. Luckily, some large crates that were strapped down hid them from view. Velko sealed the rear entrance lock, and they sat down in the spare passenger seats. They buckled themselves in quietly. He glared at Private Bohr and saw her grin sardonically.

'So this is what it feels like to be Private Sebastian Velko.' said Bohr in a lowered voice.

He said nothing and closed his eyes in exasperation. Perhaps this wasn't such a terrific idea after all.


	6. Chapter 6

The low hum of the engines was all that could be heard on board. It was quite soothing actually, and this little excursion might even prove to be relaxing had it been under different circumstances. It would be interesting to take a little field trip back in time, to not only discover the past but to relive it as well. Analee Call sighed heavily. She wouldn't be doing anything of the sort in the near future. No, she was out here chasing elusive shadows, all in the name of saving humanity.   

She could do with a good lie down. She knew the shuttle had two levels, and that the one below deck had some bunks. They didn't look very enticing, but all the bare necessities were present, and right now, that's all she cared for. 

Her boots clunked on the metallic steps as she made her way down.

*          *          *

Private Bohr fumbled with her seat belt buckles as she watched Velko get up and make his way into the cockpit. He hadn't spoken much during their journey and she wasn't surprised. He hadn't enjoyed her company before, and he probably did so even less, now that she had forced him to let her tag along. Not that it bothered her. Finally lose of the seat straps, she shrugged her shoulders and followed him to the cockpit.

Without turning around, Velko said, 'You can't even sit still for one minute, can you?'

She ignored his comment. 'Someone's got to keep an eye on you.'

'That's about all you're good at, isn't it?' 

'Just what're you suggesting?' she asked, trying to be polite.

He whirled around to confront her. 'Oh come on! Don't think I'm nuts enough to be completely oblivious to your shadowing me around, tailing me, trying to talk to me! You've got feelings for me!' there was no hiding the rising temper in his voice. 

A look of surprise registered on Bohr's face. It was her turn to be irritated. Dear God, the kid had thought that all this time, the spying and the following were the results of her being smitten by him. He was seven years her junior. He wasn't even her type. What kind of lovesick fool did he take her for? Her face reddened and she grabbed him by the collar on his uniform. 'Listen to me, Private, and listen good. Your behavior has always been subject to careful scrutiny – but there's not the least bit of romance in it. I'm blowing my cover – but to hell with it, it's either that, or I blow you out of the airlock. Personally, I'd prefer my second option, but you got lucky this time.'

Velko jerked his collar free and stared at her intently. He was stunned. 'What the hell are you on about?'

'Before our briefing, General Call asked me to cover her back, to make sure that no one found out what she was doing. This little stunt you pulled ruined everything. I couldn't let you go along with it alone, and I couldn't inform Lieutenant Mills. If I did, I'd have given everything away. So my only choice was to play dumb and come with you. Do you see now?'

He looked away momentarily, trying to work it all out. 'So you're in on it too, huh. And what kind of side plans do you two have?'

'I'm not at liberty to discuss anything more. I've already told you more than I should have. I'll let General Call tell you herself. Now sit back down and shut up.'

Velko said nothing for about a minute. Not only was he shocked at this revelation, but his pride had been injured. No witty comment came to his rescue. He continued to replay all he'd just heard in his mind. He felt stupid and slow, something he'd experienced little of. Bohr was under the orders of Call. And he had no clue as whether Call was following someone else's instructions or simply her own. Whatever the case, his suspicion and concern for both his safety and that of everyone back on the ship grew rapidly. 

'Just tell me this, does Call plan to abort our mission? Is she going to get us all killed with her ulterior motives?' The words sounded silly coming out of his mouth. He felt like he was a character in a spy thriller who had stumbled into the middle of the ring itself. He shook his head to rid himself of the surrealistic feeling.

'Why don't you let her tell you herself?' replied Bohr, looking past Velko.

He turned around to see Call standing behind him. 

*          *          *

'So you see then – that I had no choice.' said Call, after a lengthy explanation of her actions. She felt relieved to unburden this weight that she'd been carrying around with her. Call had plenty of misgivings about revealing anything remotely related to the alien when she confided in Bohr, but it got easier the second time. She needed someone she could count on, and on hearing the conversation between Velko and Bohr the other day, she felt as if Bohr was someone who had more faith in the system and could be trusted. So she had approached Bohr and had described the circumstances succinctly. She made a vague reference to Ripley, and chose not to elaborate. Then she gave Bohr the alternative of either helping her out or forgetting Call's request so she could go about her own business. Bohr chose to join Call. Which made her wonder, would Velko do the same?

Call and Bohr faced Velko as they were seated in the rear end of the shuttle. Velko let out a sigh and leaned forward, clasping his hands together. 'So you're saying that this thing is too much for us to handle?  That one of them could potentially kill all of us?'

'No, you're missing the point.' said Call, frustrated. 'Theoretically, with our weapons, we could kill the creature. But I'm not talking single digits here. We have information that makes me suspect that there are hordes of these creatures – eggs, drones and all – down there on LV426. If we bring back this species to earth, we could very likely be driven to extinction.' 

Velko noticed a slight difference taking place in Call's eyes. Almost as if they were becoming filled with anguish. Anguish at the realization that the human race could be wiped out. He was ashamed that he didn't feel the extent of that pain as she did. But then again, he had nagging feelings of suspicion about Call's accounts. But he didn't let on and said nothing, letting Bohr speak next.

'How do they operate? I mean, is their rate of propagation so rapid that it could really wipe us out that fast?'

'Yes. The eggs contain a living, organic organism. It's uh-' she stammered as recollected the images of what happened on board the Auriga. 'It can implant an embryo inside of the human chest cavity. Which, when the dormancy period is over and the embryo has developed, exits the cavity-'

'_Exits the cavity? Uh...how so, exactly?' interrupted Velko, almost afraid of the answer he would get._

'By forcing its way out of its host's rib cage. Eventually killing him, of course.'

Bohr gave a low whistle. _What a way to go_, she thought.

'Go on.' said Velko quietly.

'Well uh...in less than twenty four hours, the creature matures and grows to more than ten times its original height, and is now...it's um...' beads of sweat formed on Call's forehead.

'Lethal.' finished Velko.

Call nodded. 'There's more. Their species and life cycle is almost similar to that of bees. There's a queen who lays all the eggs – up to about ten every five minutes – and the drones and soldiers protect her and gather food for their colony. They have a complex hierarchy system, but one that ensures their survival. So we're talking about a species that is remarkably adaptable to almost any given situation. This makes them tough game to kill.'

'Great. Just great.' breathed Velko to himself. 

'An extreme macroscopic version of a lethal virus.' spoke Bohr in fearful reverence. 

'This is why I need to find Ripley. She can help us.'

'You're not serious. Tell me you're not serious. If this thing is as dangerous as you say it is – and that it's a matter of time before our boys back there on the ship locate LV-426, then we should try to beat 'em to it. I say we go to company headquarters first.' said Bohr. She was all for the idea of thwarting the mission, but didn't take to the notion of tracking down some obscure individual who may or may not help them with their plan.

Velko glanced at Call, who was deep in thought. He noticed that all invisible barriers of rank and superiority had vanished in the past three hours. They were functioning as a team of which all members were equals. He was part of that team...or was he? This new consideration didn't surprise him. Compared to what had been revealed, it would take a seismic earthquake to stir him. Or an encounter with one of Call's aliens would do the job. _Oh come off it_, he thought. _This is utterly ridiculous_. This sounds just like a cheap sci-fi novel one read as a teenager. But wasn't the notion of time travel in those novels too? _Okay, alright, he told himself. __Get a grip. __Let's think logically here. But logic was hard to come by in the past few hours. Velko didn't want them to suspect that he was having second thoughts – he had to make up his mind, and quickly. He decided to play along with them and get to Weyland Yutani to see if what Call was going on about was really true. After all, some androids had been known to malfunction – although it _was_ rare – so it was likely that all she'd told them had been fabricated. Delusions of grandeur. He had to admit though, he partly believed everything she'd told him – she was so convincing. But now was not the time for him to waver, he'd already made up his mind._

'I agree with Bohr. Let's check out the company files first.' he said.

Call nodded in silent agreement.

*          *          *

They were startled out of their thoughts by a loud automated voice on the intercom.

"Proximity warning! Proximity warning! Change course to NW45, S40. Change course to NW45, S40. Proximity warning..."

Call rose and walked swiftly towards the cockpit, Velko and Bohr following close behind. While Call was altering course, Velko crossed his arms and looked at Bohr.

'Nice little façade you put up back there on the ship. I guess there's more to you than meets the eye.'

Bohr sighed. This was as close as he came to an apology. Well, something was better than nothing. 'There's always more to something than meets the eye, Velko. You of all people should know that. Never let your ego get in the way.' 

He winced, and Bohr took pleasure from seeing it.  

Call broke the silence. 'We're entering the earth's troposphere. There are lots of free floaters – other shuttles like us – which is why we had to change course. I've got us landing clearance. Once we're grounded, we locate the Company. And listen, I don't want to let on who we are and what we're doing to anyone. As far as we're concerned we're a couple of tourists foreign to earth. We want as little trouble as possible, because time is short, and everything we do is going to count towards our survival.'

Velko and Bohr looked edgy and tense.

'And keep a cool head while you're about it.' said Call.

'Easier said than done.' muttered Velko inaudibly.


	7. Chapter 7

Private Emma Bohr stared out the window of the rising elevator. She could see nothing but a rising skyline of skyscrapers dominating the horizon. The setting sun glinted off the tall buildings, radiating a look that was at the same time both so obviously artificial yet beautifully eclectic. In spite of herself, it took her breath away. This was nothing like what she was used to back in her time. Pollution was on the rise again, and hardly a day went by without the sky being shrouded in a dense layer of haze from a variety of pollutants. But _this, this was so different. She smiled to herself. _So this is what it looks like when the sun goes down..._she thought. _

However, the beauty surrounding her was a distraction she could not afford. They had come here – to Weyland Yutani's headquarters – for a purpose. She had to remain sharp just in case one of them slipped up and revealed their true intentions. After all, it must have been plain luck that had got them this far. After they had landed, national immigration authorities had questioned them about their port of embarkation and had also requested their vehicle registration number. Call had replied that they were complete foreigners to earth – giving the explanation that they were born in another system – not earth's. Velko had said that the vehicle registration number had expired so they were in the transition period of acquiring a new one. Bohr had simply remained silent, yet nervous. Miraculously, with little fuss, they had let the three of them go through.

They had spent the past twenty-four hours in transit around the country – their target destination being Weyland Yutani. And finally, they had got there. 

Bohr continued to gaze at the ochre-colored sky through the glass. Call caught that look and said, 'Don't think it's always like this - this illusion of beauty. It's all a mask to hide humanity's wounds and scars. The past isn't any better than the future.'

A bell rang softly, indicating that they had reached their chosen floor. 

As Call walked out in front of them, Velko shot Bohr a look and whispered, 'Guess she didn't get much sleep either.'

They emerged into a large hall of sorts, with grandiose furniture, elaborate decorations and a thick maroon carpet covering the floor. It all culminated to a large teak counter, behind which were several receptionists, working furiously attending to calls and customers. 

Velko looked around him and whistled softly. 'Makes you wonder what a nice company like this wants to do with alien organisms, huh.' 

'I nail it down to some seriously screwed up extra-curricular activities.' spoke Bohr. 

Call turned around to face them. Her face looked drawn, tired. She looked and behaved as human as any of them. 'Alright, you two. This is where it gets tricky. Don't ask any questions, and just follow my lead. You got that?'

Bohr nodded. Velko didn't say anything. He wondered why Call didn't offer any explanations for what she was about to do – whatever it was. It made him all the more suspicious of her actions. But he could do nothing for the moment except play along.

Call walked up to a receptionist and smiled. Velko was surprised by a marked change in her demeanor. She had made a remarkable transition from the worried do-gooder to the time-restrained professional. Her eyes had lost that tired look, her face had become sharper, more alert and her smile was simply a formality, nothing more. _Quite the actress_, he thought.

'I've recently signed on to purchase some shares from your company. I'd like some access to my personal account – a computer terminal preferably.' said Call. The way she said it, it didn't sound like a request – more like an order.

'I'm sorry ma'am, but you'll have to get a number, and wait in the queue just like everyone else. This is the only investor relations section in this building that deals directly with customers who buy our shares, so it can get pretty busy. I do apologize for any inconvenience caused.' The receptionist appeared harried. The last thing he looked like he wanted was an unhappy customer.

'I'm sorry, I don't think you understand. I've purchased shares from your organism investigations division.'

The receptionist cleared his throat, and shifted on his feet uncomfortably. 'Ma'am,' he began, 'to my knowledge, there _is_ no organism investigation division. You must have the wrong company. Weyland Yutani only deals with producing different energy sources...'

'I don't think I'm the one who's in the wrong here,' she said curtly. 'Two days ago I bought five percent of your shares from your organisms division,' she waved her hand about in the air, as if she was impatient, 'and now you tell me that you have no such division? What kind of a company is this?' The loudness of her voice grew. People around her were beginning to stare. Velko and Bohr shuffled around awkwardly – the scene Call was causing wouldn't exactly fall under discreet bahavior.

Suddenly, from Call's right, a man – dressed differently from the receptionists stepped forward and intervened. 'What seems to be the problem, Bill?'

The receptionist turned in relief to the gentleman next to Call and spoke in hushed tones to him – apparently explaining the situation. His eyes widened suddenly, and he immediately brushed the receptionist away and began apologizing to Call. 'I'm terribly sorry Ma'am, some of our staff are er...unaware of our business. Through no fault of their training, I assure you.' He lowered his voice. 'You're referring to our research section – of extraterrestrial organisms, of course. We don't exactly call it the organism investigation division, but you came close. These matters – more personal to our firm – are kept higher up in the chain of command.'

'I don't want explanations of your social hierarchy, I want a computer console. I need to access my personal account. In _private.'_

The man didn't hesitate. It wasn't often when people strolled in and purchased five percent of the company's shares. That was a significant amount – but still, it was strictly business and nothing to be extremely shocked about. But if a customer did so from the organism investigations division – that was a whole other ball game. This division was relatively unknown. And people privileged enough to know about it were very important and valuable to the company. He nodded as he smiled, 'Right this way please.'

He looked surprised when Velko and Bohr followed Call, and was about to say something when Call explained that she went nowhere without her bodyguards. He allowed it.

Velko grinned despite himself. It was quite a brilliant idea of Call's, really – for one thought up in such a small span of time. And she hadn't told the two of them in order to make her charade all the more realistic. He wondered what else she had up her sleeve.

*          *          *

The three of them crowded around the console while Call started familiarizing herself with the system. After half an hour, Call shook her head in frustration. 'I can't plug into this. Their modem receiver's the same model – but with different capabilities and functions. I can get in – but I daren't risk it. It might trigger an alarm. Dammit!' She pounded her fist against the wall.

'Wait a minute,' spoke up Bohr. 'Flyboy here can get us in. He does it all the time.' She nodded in Velko's direction.

_Little sneak_, he thought. _What would Call say to this new piece of news, he wondered? _

If Call was surprised, she didn't show it. 'Okay. Velko, you're up – now's your chance to shine.' She gave up her seat and motioned for him to take her place. He did so without a word. She placed a hand on his shoulder. 'And keep it tight. Our friend back there said he'd be back in two hours.'

Velko didn't know what to say. He couldn't refuse. He didn't want to get caught. He had brief – but jarring – ideas of the consequences if they did get found out. They might end up as circus side-show freaks – and be dubbed as "The Futuristic Trio". The image flashed through his mind's eye and he grimaced. Considering the circumstances though, he didn't have much of a choice. He sighed and said, 'I need some breathing space, ladies. Go powder your noses or something.'

He waited expectantly for a retort from Bohr, but got nothing. Instead, they both silently acknowledged his request and walked away to sit down at the other end of the small room. He pulled out his five disks from his bag pack. 

'Don't fail me now,' he said as he patted the stack of disks. The pressure was mounting.

*          *          *

He was bleary-eyed as he looked from the screen to his watch. They had half an hour left. Somehow, Velko had managed to pull it off. But it wasn't as easy as he had expected it to be. The security programs were definitely more primitive and older, but as stable as ever. Especially in a company such as this. They probably had cyber-guards keeping tabs on outsider access to the mainframe every minute of the day. He had to reroute some of the connections to his console with the system to other outside servers that were harmlessly interacting with the company's system. This was similar to him playing a previously recorded video in a security video room, so as to make the guards believe that nothing out of the ordinary was taking place. It worked, but not for long. He had half an hour to dig into the company files. And half an hour wasn't enough when you didn't know what you were looking for.

He gestured for Call to come to the computer. 'I'm in. But you gotta tell me where to go next. We have thirty minutes to strike gold, nothing more.'

Call took a deep breath. 'Right. I want you to search for any connections Weyland Yutani might have to the military.'

She waited patiently for five minutes beside him.

He spoke up excitedly. 'Check this out. Weyland Yutani receives a large part of its funding from the UA Marine Corps. As a reciprocator of the military's generosity, it has inserted specific clauses in employee contracts to investigate new life forms should the opportunity arise. These little investigations of theirs are pretty rare though. Only two have occurred in the past hundred years. The second was fifty-seven years ago – but something went wrong.' He looked up at Call. 'This is in another file. Should I open it?'

'Yes.' spoke Call. Her voice was almost inaudible.

'Uh...save for one survivor, the entire crew were killed, and the commercial vehicle was destroyed. The investigations – these were pretty recent - into the case could not explain anything that happened, and were closed several weeks ago. The survivor, warrant officer E. Ripley...' he paused. That was the name Call had saved one of her files under. Could this possibly be the person she was so eager to find?

'Please go on,' she said, her voice urgent.

'...Warrant officer E. Ripley was stripped of her flight officer status and now works down at the cargo docks. Weyland Yutani has also been working on another side project with the military-'

He was interrupted suddenly by Call. 'Where is she now?'

'Ripley? Don't you wanna hear about their other projects?'

'No. Tell me where she is.'

He swallowed nervously, trying not to look surprised at her persistence. 'That appears to be ranked even higher in the realm of classified information.' he told her. Then to himself, 'But not to worry, we can work our way around that...' He punched the keys rapidly. 'Alright. Your friend Ripley seems to be pretty important for a cargo dock operator. She's voluntarily signed on as a consultant to the military.'

'For what?' breathed Call.

'You got me. The document's encrypted in a format I can't crack. Wait a sec let's open this file here,' He paused – as if allowing time for something of vital importance to sink in. What he saw before him – or understood – wiped away any previous misconceptions of General Call. At first, his reaction was that of disbelief. Her story couldn't be true. But it was. Everything, up to this point – about the Company's attempt to secretly acquire the organism, was how she said it would be. The only blank space that remained to be filled was the part about the creature itself. And a sinking feeling in his gut told him that he'd find out pretty soon enough. He didn't take his eyes off the screen. 'Look. There are some familiar lines of code though – and I can understand some key words...see here,' he pointed with his index finger to a part of the screen. 'This reads "time log", but I don't know what it applies to. And the second part reads "disruption",' he moved his finger down the screen, 'the third "grid reference Y59" and the fourth, "unidentifiable life form". And the last bit that I can identify and that makes any sense -'' his heart beat quickened and he suddenly stopped talking. 

'What?' said Call. Her voice was shrill with anxiety and impatience.

'They're coordinates. The only reason why I can understand that is because the languages of interpretation of coordinate systems have been in use for centuries...'

'I don't care _why_, Velko – what're they there for?'

'They're coordinates to LV-426. Wha- how do they...'

She stared into space and spoke. 'We're too late.' said Call. 'She's gone.'


	8. Chapter 8

Call looked up to see Bohr repeatedly pointing to her wristwatch with her fingers. Ripley was gone. Bohr's lips were moving, but try as she might, Call couldn't make out what she was saying. She turned to see Velko fumbling around the computer terminal, but couldn't help him. And Ripley was gone. Just like that. Call's thoughts were scattered, random. They weren't coherent. Logic – something that came naturally to her – was absent, just when she needed it most. So all Call could do was stand motionless, feeling an overwhelming sense of emptiness overcome her.

Bohr walked quickly over to the two of them, glancing worriedly at Call. To Velko, she said, 'Our man's due back any time now. Whatever you have to do – do it _fast_.' 

'Got it, got it...but I need ten minutes to cover my tracks and get out of the system. Go stall him if he shows.'

'Jeez man, what about Ca-'

He cut her short. They would worry about the General later. 'You want this to go smooth? If it doesn't, they're going to have security personnel swarming in here like vultures!'

'How'd you like me to keep him busy?'

'I don't care _how_. Just do it, dammit!' he snapped. He saw Bohr scowl for a fraction of a second and then walk away to her post. He pushed all extraneous thoughts out of his mind, and focused on the matter at hand. He had to slowly undo everything he had done to get into the computer's mainframe. It was almost like pulling out a brick from under a stack of piled ones – the task was a delicate one. One mistake and the entire load could come crashing down with horrendous results. This was not a job one could pull off in ten ridiculously short minutes.

He stood – because he was too tense to sit back down again – hunched over the control panel looking back and forth from the screen to the controls repeatedly, typing furiously away at the console. Suddenly he stood bolt upright, as if he remembered something. 

'Call.' he said, turning to face her. 'We need this in hard copy. I'm going to save this information to disk.' He spoke to her as if he was addressing a child, and he thought this odd. Somewhere at the back of his mind, he wondered why this was so. Perhaps he had subconsciously acknowledged the fact that Call was not functioning as before – that something had affected her badly, causing her to act like this. But what? He quickly brushed the thought away – there was no time for speculation - and proceeded to save the files onto his disk.

Meanwhile, Bohr was having her own case of the jitters. From watching Call and Velko talk in hushed tones earlier, she concluded that they had successfully managed to hack into the company's computer. Even better, they seem to have had come up with some important information. But then Call's demeanor changed dramatically for the worse, and Bohr's heart sank. There was no chance in hell that that could be a good sign. She hated bad news, but it was always better to be in the know rather than oblivion. Her mind was roving over the possibilities of what it could be when something startled her out of her revelry, it was Velko. Bohr stared at him. He looked exhausted. Dark circles were beginning to form underneath his eyes and his usually boyish face looked haggard and worn.   

'Let's go.' he told her.

'What about our man? Shouldn't we at least-'

'There's no time.'

Bohr led Call out by the arm, and as the three of them took the elevator down, exited the building and walked out into the night.

*          *          *

It took them six hours to get back to the ship. Six hours sitting in a large public transport vehicle at night, with nothing to do but think. Bohr sat next to Call while Velko was opposite them, sleeping. She couldn't tell if Call was doing the same, although her eyes were closed. Bohr drummed her fingers on her knee nervously, doing nothing. Not that doing nothing automatically implied boredom – _far from it_, thought Bohr. _Far from it. On their way here, Velko had explained the events she'd missed in full detail. Call's assumptions about Weyland Yutani had proved true – they did indeed have connections with the military. The connections ran so deep that they had actually _requested_ the military to send a team of marines down to LV-426. For reasons that Velko and herself were left to speculate on. But they had one very valuable piece of information: the coordinates to LV-426. What their next step would be was not up to them. For that – under normal circumstances – they would both turn to Call for guidance or direction. After all, she had led them this far without any major mishaps. But at the moment, that was impossible. Call had not spoken a word ever since they'd left Company headquarters – she was unresponsive, and the two had given up on initiating communication with her. But Bohr had seen her share of post-traumatic stress victims, and Call didn't fit the medical profile. Her pupils weren't dilated, her skin wasn't clammy or cold and she wasn't completely unresponsive to certain stimuli. _No_, thought Bohr, _it's gotta be something else_. This type of behavior almost seemed to be voluntary – something that maybe Call chose to do. _

She welcomed the thought, which served as a distraction, considering the grave situation they were in. Call's behavior simultaneously intrigued and disturbed her. Emma Bohr had always been more accepting of people's differences in society. Especially when it came to artificial people. She felt that humans were stupidly and carelessly granted the power to create by some higher deity for reasons unknown. Their creations could be terrible, beautiful, or both. But it seemed to her, that whatever humanity could make was automatically considered to be devoid of its own thought or feelings - that morality always came secondary to control. Androids existed for the sole purpose of serving humanity. But the saddest part of all was that they too could understand this twisted relationship and yet took the responsibilities issued to them very seriously, as if self-concern was unimportant. Bohr had been able to observe this since she was a child.

Her father died when she was four, and her mother had to take on two jobs to maintain a steady income flow. So Bohr's mother had to hire a full-time nanny to take care of her child while she was away. But nanny agencies were expensive, so she had to hire one from a company that actually constructed synthetic, programmed versions of them – which were relatively inexpensive and easier to come by. So Bohr was raised by an artificial person who was as loving and caring next to her mother. And she was more like a mother than she was a nanny. She would worry about Bohr's grades and goings-on in school, correct her when wrong and most importantly be there for her when needed. Their relationship was a close one – but Bohr soon discovered that she had taken it for granted. Three years later, something went wrong with the android's programming, and she would often repeat tasks several times in one day. Bohr's mother grew worried that this matter could grow worse and complained about it to the company she'd purchased her from. Their solution was a full refund and the disposal of Bohr's closest friend. _Disposal. Bohr shuddered at the very word. This person they termed artificial, she could feel, couldn't she? She could cry. She could laugh. But she had one fault in the eyes of humanity. She wasn't of flesh and blood. Therefore, she wasn't human. But what does it take to be human then?_

Bohr gazed out the window as lights outside streamed past the vehicle like large fireflies. It takes murder to be human. It takes a cold, calculating mind. It takes the capture of a terrible organism – like the alien - to use as a biological weapon against one's own species. Bohr's heart started racing. She had subconsciously pushed out any thoughts of the creature into the back of her mind, and now all her anxieties came back like a rampaging flood. Without Call, Bohr felt lost. What now?

As if in answer to her question, Velko lifted his head while still lying down and spoke. 'Any brainstorms on what the hell we're supposed to do next?' He had apparently been up for some time now, but had just lain there, thinking. Worrying.

She said nothing.

He continued to talk. 'I've been thinking though. Unless Call has anything to say, we'll proceed with the next most logical step.'

 'Which is...?' asked Bohr, eyebrows raised.

'We have to go back and sabotage the equipment on our main ship – the _Amadeus.'_

'You know what this means, don't you? We won't be able to get back home.' she said quietly.

'I know. But it also severs the only means of getting to the organism. Think about it, this is the only damned contraption our boys back home have. Without it, they can't get back to the past any more.'

'I'm sure they'll build another one though...'

'Not for a long time. And frankly, I'm willing to take that chance. It's the best shot we have.' he said, looking her in the eye.

'No it isn't,' Bohr and Velko jumped slightly. The voice was Call's. 'There's another.'

*          *          *

They stared at her. Bohr sat still, wondering what proposition Call was going to make now. Her curiosity was piqued and she also felt a simultaneous sense of relief, now that Call was back in the game. Velko on the other hand, felt his stomach churn. A feeling of dread – he felt as if he already knew what Call would say – was gradually overcoming him. Yet, the two of them said nothing, leaned forward and waited expectantly for Call to speak. 

'First, let's analyze what's wrong with your suggestion.' she said lowering her voice, looking at Velko. 'Like Bohr pointed out, they will _definitely build another facility, and they'll start all their goddamn plans again, but this time there'll be no one around to stop them, because they'll make doubly sure that nothing goes wrong the second time. One thing you have to keep in mind about the military is their unrelenting persistence. Secondly, supposing we did back to the __Amadeus, what do you think Lieutenant Mills is going to do – welcome us back with open arms? Sure, I could say that the two of you ultimately come under my command because of my seniority, but he's not stupid. He's going to want a full update of our activities...this will take time. Thirdly, the transport generator's located in the ship's hull. It is highly radioactive, very well guarded and _huge_. It's going to take a hundred tons of explosives to blow her up – and if by chance, we do succeed, we're not going to live to talk about it. But what I want you both to understand is that if we _really_ want to destroy the creatures, we're going to have to go all the way. In other words, I want to get rid of them for good. Not for the moment, not for a hundred years – I want them to disappear forever. Whatever we do now changes what the future will see. And if there are no monsters now, there will be no monsters then, got it?'_

Velko leaned back and let out a long breath. 'You're not saying what I think you're saying...'

Call looked back at him, eyes unblinking. 'Listen, your participation is not mandatory. If you want to walk out on this, be my guest. But now's your only chance to do so. I need to know whether you're in or out before I tell you anything more.' 

Bohr spoke up quickly. 'Whatever it is, I'm in for the long haul.'

Call smiled at Bohr and looked back to Velko. His expression was blank, and it took him a minute to speak. When he did, he averted Call's gaze and spoke slowly. 'I've never made an unselfish decision in my life. I guess now would be the right time...' he slapped his seat hard with the palm of his hand. 'Yeah...I'm with you.'

Call nodded as if she expected this. But inwardly, she was smiling. She hadn't expected him to make such a decision – she didn't think it was in him. But he had helped them get this far, hadn't he? And now, it seemed, he was prepared to make a very valuable sacrifice – all in the name of the survival of humanity. Maybe there was some good in the world after all.

'Okay,' said Call. 'You have the coordinates to LV-426, right Velko? As soon as we get back to the shuttle, we're going to gather what gear we have and start planning. And remember, there can be no word of this to our regiment back on the ship.'

As soon as Call had finished talking, as if on cue, the vehicle came to a halt.

*          *          *

Back on the shuttle, Velko stood alone, gazing outside the window at the stars floating in the darkness. He had made his decision; there would be no turning back now. But something still perturbed him. It wasn't the thought of the alien – that simply scared him stiff, it didn't even need to disturb him before doing so. No, it was something else. He didn't really have any regrets about his decision, but he did find himself thinking about its consequences. If something – God forbid – did happen to him, that would mean that he would never return home, to be with his family again. At that moment, he fully realized how much simple, little things meant to him. And how much he missed them. He remembered the burnt smell that would emanate from the kitchen after his mother had attempted to make yet another elaborate meal. The way his father would always hug him, proudly, in the presence of his friends, embarrassing him to the point where he would squirm uncomfortably in his grip. The way his younger sister, Sydney, would nag him about things – little things, like when he didn't shave or stayed in the bathroom too long. His throat tightened. He had never been in the middle of heavy combat before – he was just a tech op. Sure, he had been trained for that very ordeal, should it take place, but it hadn't as yet. And he was afraid. Sebastian Velko had never prayed before in his life – despite the insistence of his parents – but now, he felt compelled to do so. He prayed to anything or anybody out there who would listen. He prayed that they would be able to succeed. Lives, not just his, depended on it. He prayed that he would see his family again, and promised that if he did, he wouldn't complain about their idiosyncrasies. Ever. He opened his eyes and put his fist to his lips. He saw Call's reflection in the window, walking towards him. He turned to face her.

'You know,' she began, 'they say that courage is not simply having the gall to do something risky. Courage is knowing that there's a large possibility for failure, but you go ahead with the job anyway. I see that in Bohr and yourself.' She smiled to herself, 'Given the situation, I couldn't have asked for two better companions.'

He smiled back. 'Well, that's if you're willing to put up with my sophisticated sense of humor, of course...'

She gave a short laugh and turned to go. Suddenly Velko spoke. 'Hey Call,' she turned around as he continued. 'Back at the company – what happened? I mean, what got you so upset?'

She took a deep breath before speaking, and when she did, she looked down at her feet. 'I might have lost someone. For the second time.'

'It's Ripley, isn't it?' 

She nodded. 'We had a bond...uh...it's not what you would think, of course. It's just that we shared something in common. We were both different.'

'You _knew_ her? How can that be?' he asked.

'The Ellen Ripley I know is...was, a clone. Cloned from the Ellen Ripley you just read about back at company headquarters. She's part human, part alien-' then on seeing the disturbed look on Velko's face she quickly explained, running to Ripley's defense. 'But she saved my life and two others from her own kind. She feels pain and emotion too. She knows where her loyalties lie...she didn't ask to become who she is...' Suddenly Call felt as if she couldn't hold back the tears anymore. It felt like a dam was about to burst – giving way to the pressure. She started sobbing, withholding nothing back. Her shoulders shook rapidly. She sat down, buried her head in her hands and cried. The sound went right to Velko's soul, twisting it. Her cries were that of a child, a child who was unwillingly placed in the midst of complete sadness, loneliness and fear. They were the cries of someone without hope. He wanted to comfort her, but his body was rigid, stiff. Finally he bent down and placed a hand on her shoulder.

'Wherever she is now...I believe she knows exactly what you're doing. That it's right. And that you're going to make sure that she doesn't have go through all the pain again. I have faith in you, Call. That's the god-honest truth. If anyone can stop these things, and the destruction they'll bring, it's you.'

She looked back up at him, but said nothing. He continued. 'And who's to say that the real Ripley isn't alive? She could still be down there - don't you _ever give up hope. Because that's when you really die. And I don't think it's your time yet.'_

A flicker of something alive came into her eyes. She brushed away at the tear stains on her cheek. 'Yeah...yeah, you're right. Let's um...get it together then, huh?' She gave a wan smile. 'Have you set our coordinates for LV-426?'

Velko rose. He was amazed at how quickly she recovered – she had put aside her own concerns in order to get the job done. It was admirable. 'Uh, no. You said that we need to organize ourselves first. You wanted another forty-eight hours before we go in.' 

'Yeah, I did say that. Alright, let's go onto top deck and see how Bohr's doing with our weapons check.'

*          *          *

The climbed a set of stairs onto the next level, and walked to the back of the shuttle. Before them lay several opened crates, and Bohr sat kneeling on the ground in front of one dealing with its contents. On the side of her lay several objects. Some of them looked like weapons, others were canisters – probably containing pressurized gas of some sort, and some were compact boxes whose contents were unknown.

On seeing them approach her, she looked up and spoke. 'Well. I've sifted through some of the stuff we have on board,' she pointed to the things beside her, 'and I've got good news and bad news.' 

'Bad news first.' said Velko. 'Always.'

'Alright...see these small boxes here? They contain vacuum-sealed food. Cereal bars, protein bars, you name it – we have it. But this bunch is only gonna last us about four days. And that's if we implement some rationing.'

'What about water?' asked Call.

'Water we have plenty of. But the food problem worries me. The shuttle is only meant for transportation back and forth from the _Amadeus_. It's not intended for um, vacations on distant planets.'

'We'll manage.' said Call, anxious to move on. 'How're we doing with the weapons?'

'Ah, that's the good news. See this puppy here?' she picked up a medium-sized gun that looked streamlined and efficient. 'Laser blasters. These knobs here adjust the intensity, meaning you can set it to stun or to gun. And it's got the ability to lock on to its target once you press the secondary trigger here, so once you're locked on, your victim doesn't stand a chance. But they're liable to heat up if you use them too often within a certain time span, so you might wanna give them a rest once in a while.'

'How many of those do you have?' asked Velko. 

'Five. I can stuff them into one of those large duffel bags over there once we land, and carry it with us.' replied Bohr. 'And let's see...we have your standard motion detectors that can be equipped with these little gadgets that you can attach to it – improves its function.' She pulled a small rectangular object out of her pocket with a macro-chip on one side of it. 'Your conventional motion detector looks for microscopic changes in air density...moving high pressure, low pressure areas, right? But with this little gizmo you can even detect still life forms. Meaning, if something's waiting to pounce on you around the corner, you got the upper hand. We have two of these detectors, gadgets included.'

'That's it?' questioned Velko.

'Well, I haven't finished scrutinizing every crate on board...there are two more over there. Go take a look and see what else we've got.'

Velko walked away from them, leaving Call and Bohr to discuss things. 

'See those packages packed in aluminum over there?' Bohr nodded towards the side of the shuttle where they lay. 'That's enough explosive to blast a crater the size of San Francisco. The only problem is, I'm not an explosive-wiring expert. And from the looks of it – they need to be manipulated from afar by a computer. So we're gonna have trouble there.'

'Let's hope it doesn't come to that.' said Call.

'What's our ETA?' 

'Forty-eight hours from now. We can technically get there in slightly more than twenty four hours but I want us to all get some decent rest before we land.'

Suddenly Bohr's eye caught a flickering light at Call's side. She brought it to Call's attention.

'Yeah, it's my comm link with our ship. It's been flashing for quite a while now. Must be urgent, but if I answer it, I give away our position.' explained Call.

'Don't you think it's worth it to check though?' prodded Bohr. 'Maybe it's Mills telling us he's changed his mind about the alien and wants to help us get rid of it.' said Bohr jokingly. 'And heaven knows, we could use the help.'

Call thought about it. The flashing message obviously wouldn't be about a change of plans, but it would at least let them know what the troops back on the ship were planning. Whether they were simply waiting or had proceeded with another route of action. And yes, although it might give away their position, the coordinates would be meaningless unless Mills knew where they were headed and what they were about to do. She opted to play the message, and held it out for Bohr to see as well. 

The letters glowed green on the screen. "To: General A. Call. Secondary consideration: Two missing troops. Primary consideration: Interception of data readouts successful. Located LV-426, a.k.a. Acheron. Sending coordinate data via this msg. Can no longer wait for further orders. ETA: 1900 HRS. Location unknown. Signed: Leitenant Mills."

Call and Bohr looked up at each other. General Mills and the other had already left for a planet, with a head-start of about a day. Apparently, they'd proceeded without Call's consent, and there was no telling if they would be successful in acquiring the alien there or not. 

Call's face darkened. Things were getting worse by the minute. 'Get Velko. The situation's gotten more complicated – and we've got no more time to waste. We're going in now.'

*          *          *

They sat in the cockpit strapped down, once again, in their seats. The tension was palpable. Velko felt the butt of a standard revolver with his hand, as if that sole piece of machinery could offer him comfort. He'd found seven of them in the remaining crates and had gathered all the ammunition he could take as well as some body-armor suits. Bohr was too optimistic about the superiority of their weapons. _Sure, they were high-tech and all, but the way Call talked about those creatures, it didn't make a difference. We're screwed_, he thought. _Severely screwed. _

From the information that Lieutenant Mills had sent them, Call had gathered that LV-426's atmosphere was hospitable enough for their requirements. Which meant that they didn't need their O-2 tanks and breathing suits. That would have probably caused lots of difficulty moving around, and resulted in easy-picking targets. Thank God that wasn't so. Velko ran through the plan in his head repeatedly. They intended to look for any signs of their troops' drop-ship, and land a couple meters away from it. Then they'd use the shuttle's computer to see where the troops had set up base, because Call didn't want to run into them. She wanted to find the nest, and perhaps by listening in on the troops' communication lines, she could do that. There was no need to speculate on what her next move would be. Velko's mouth was dry.

*          *          *

The landing drop was as bad as it got. Winds were as high up as seventy knots, and what with the dense clouds covering LV-426, the turbulence shook every single bone in their bodies. When they had touched down, they breathed a sigh of relief. Immediately Call unfastened her straps, got up and started looking for signs of any life forms on the cockpit computer console. Velko and Bohr started putting on their body armor as quickly as possible. It was light, yet strong, unlike those used in the past. It was made out of a strong, malleable hybrid of metals. They pocketed the ammunition, and slung their weapons into their holsters and over their shoulders. Velko strapped on the backpack containing food whilst Bohr grabbed the duffel bag containing their weapons.

They then walked over to Call.

'Oh my God.' she said. 'Look at this. The computer can only detect infra-red – that means it can search out human life forms only. But...we've got quite a few folks down here.' She pointed to the screen, 'Three main groups. Some are in this sector close by, in a compound. The second group's under some levels of construction – a tower I think. The third – I count around seventeen blimps – those are our boys. They've set up base a couple miles from the main compound.'

'How many people – total?' asked Velko.

'My guess is about forty – forty five, it's hard to tell. Some of them overlap.'

'Shit.' he breathed.

'Your regular holiday resort.' quipped Bohr.

Call's head popped up briefly, as if deep in thought. Then she said, 'Right. We're heading into sector J5. The compound. Now I want you two to listen up closely. What you're about to see goes beyond all those horror stories you've heard from seasoned POWs. It's going to be real bad, but I want you to keep your heads. I'm not sure whether we're walking into a nest where these people are being contained as hosts or whether we're just about to encounter two-hundred and fifty year-old marines. Whatever the case, stay alert, stay sharp. There can be absolutely no room for error. Bohr, you're in the lead. Velko and I will cover you. Let's go.'

They lowered the platform and walked cautiously down the ramp into a swirling wind. Large dust particles whipped about their heads, the wind making a mockingly eerie sound that was almost painful to hear. Call pointed towards their target location, and Bohr stepped off the ramp with Velko and Call following her, taking their flanking positions. A dim light emanated from the compound through the whirling dust, and the three of them made their way toward it.

Velko blinked his eyes repeatedly to rid them of particle debris. He gripped his revolver in his right hand, and glanced back and forth continuously from his motion detector to his surroundings. Visibility was low, but not low enough for him to be unable to discern the dark outcrops of rocks, the jagged terrain and the hostile weather. What he saw merged together with the thoughts in his head made his heart pound. 

_So it begins_, he thought.****


	9. Chapter 9

Call shuddered, but it wasn't from the cold. She breathed in deeply, inhaling the stale air. They couldn't see a damned thing beyond ten feet in this weather. _Not a goddamned thing._

They walked cautiously towards the compound, with Call and Velko taking their flanking positions beside Bohr. Before them, the dim light grew brighter as they approached it. And soon the compound emerged from the mist like some large grey animal, awaiting them expectantly. Its sides were sloped downwards and on the second floor there were wide windows that appeared to be set in thick, durable semi-plastic glass. Beyond the windows, they saw nothing. Darkness, no life. 

'This place is _dead_.' muttered Velko to himself.

Call motioned for them to stop, and then nodded towards a heavyset door which was obviously the entrance to the compound. She looked at Velko and nodded towards it, indicating that she wanted it open. Then looking ahead into the black night, she spoke. 'Bohr, take position ten. I'm on two,' meaning that they would have to cover him at the ten and two o' clock positions whilst he got the door open.

Velko almost stumbled forward in his eagerness to get the entrance open. He ran up to a panel next to the hulking door and was surprised to see wires poking out of it – apparently someone had wired it open from the outside. Which meant that all he'd have to do was follow suit and the door would be open in a couple seconds.

He shouted over the winds to his comrades as the door slid open, metal grating against metal. 'Let's go!'

Call and Bohr walked backwards towards him inside the compound as the doors closed with a resounding thud. Inside, they could hear nothing but the steady beating of their hearts. Silent as a tomb. 

'Alright,' whispered Call, 'Let's secure a location and start scanning this place. I say that room down on the le-' she was cut short by something that caught her attention ahead of her. Noticing this, Velko and Bohr looked up ahead and saw a large hole in the middle of the floor. Velko's mouth opened slightly as he walked cautiously towards it, revolver extended in his hand. It looked as if the metal grating on the floor around the hole had been _twisted_ upwards, extended in agony by some unknown entity leaving nothing save for this gaping hole. 

'Velko, no...' began Call, no longer feeling like herself.

He bent over, peering into the hole, caution thrown to the wind whilst curiosity overcame him. _The same hole had been formed on the level below_. And as far as his eyes could make out, the same goddamned hole was on the level below that. _Holy crap. But the frightening thing was that he knew that this wasn't caused by any explosive device. That would've resulted in a clean cut through the floor and shards of metal embedded in surrounding walls would serve as evidence that an explosive was used. But __this, this he couldn't understand. _

'What do you see?' asked Bohr.

He beckoned for her to come and take a look. But Call placed a firm hand on Bohr's arm and spoke slowly. 'It's them. Acid for blood.'

Bohr stared at her for a few seconds, unable to comprehend. 'You mean their blood _corroded the damned metal? What the hell do you mean by that?!' Call detected a degree of panic in her voice._

'It means,' said Velko walking towards them, 'that we secure a room far away from this area. And we get the heck out of this hallway. Gives me the creeps. Get the motion detectors out.'

Not wanting to argue here, Bohr yanked out her motion detector and looked at it. Her face fell. 'Oh Lord, don't do this to me now – c'mon you goddamn piece of shit!' She hit the piece of equipment repeatedly with the palm of her hand.

'What's wrong?' asked Velko.

'Fading screen. It's not even picking up on us!' 

'Gimme that,' he said, and looked at it. 'These are the pac-200 versions! They need to be recharged before use! _Dammit!' He glared at Bohr._

'We got one more left, use mine.' suggested Call.

'There's no point,' he spoke back, 'yours is in probably the same condition as this one. Dammit Bohr, a weapons check means making sure that they all work!' 

'You land this whole load of-' retorted Bohr when she was suddenly interrupted by the urgency in Call's voice.

'I don't mean to bust your little party, but I suggest we get moving. We've been milling about here too long.' Call glanced at both of them in turn, meaning she meant business. 'See that room on the left there? That's our best option for now. I don't want us wandering too far into the interior – we don't know the layout of this place, so if something happens, I want to be as close to our nearest exit as possible. Our recon point is our dropship if we do get separated. I don't want you two running into this complex, I want you to run out of it. You got that?' They nodded and Call continued. 'Alright, there are only three of us, so I want you and Bohr to make a clean sweep of that room while I stand point by the door. Make sure that the door locks tight, if it doesn't we try another room. Make it quick.'

                                                                                     *         *          *

At first the silence was welcome. The deafening sounds of the winds outside were harrowing – it was difficult to make out friendly noise from hostile noise. Once inside though, it was pin-drop silence. But as each minute passed by, the lack of sound made Sebastian Velko increasingly nervous. He felt as if impending doom was nearby, and he simply could not stand waiting for it to strike. Half an hour had passed since they secured this room – which had two computer terminals in it – none of them functional. Almost everything in the room was wet, it appeared as if the sprinklers had been activated, setting off a short in the system rendering everything in here useless. Just like the three of them were. 

Without the motion detectors, mobility around this compound was almost impossible. Call was sitting down on the floor in silence while Bohr was going through the bags checking up on their stock of weapons. Velko felt slightly guilty, he hadn't meant to lose his temper, and he knew that this was hardly the time or place to have a full out brawl. _We all make mistakes, he thought. __And coming here was the biggest one I've ever made. _

He sat cross-legged on the floor, leant back against the wall and drummed his fingers on his knee. He looked around the room for the hundredth time, sizing up their escape routes. There were only two. The door through which they entered and one leading to a bathroom which in turn lead back out into the hallway. There weren't any windows. Not that he wanted to look out into that shit-storm. 

Velko suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to go to sleep. He hadn't realized the toll the adrenaline surge had taken on him – on all of them for that matter. Now would be a perfect time to catch some shut-eye. One last cat-nap before all hell broke loose. He was just about to do that when he heard Bohr shuffle off the ground and walk towards him. She sat down beside him and spoke. 'This is some pretty shit we're in huh.' It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

'Damn right.' he said.

'Call needs time to think. She wants me to stand by on our second exit point. She's taking the first. You're up in two hours, so my suggestion is that you get some rest before then.' said Bohr.

He looked at Bohr. There were flecks of soot particles lodged in her hair and dark circles under her eyes. He noticed a nerve next to her eye twitch every now and then. A slight layer of dirt had formed and was beginning to cake on the left side of her face and neck. They were trained for this sort of thing, thought Velko. Trained to endure the seemingly endless hours of waiting, to withstand grueling conditions without complaint. They were trained to act cool while heavy artillery fire rained down on them. He remembered one exercise the drill sergeants came up with a year ago. They had to assemble the parts of a strike missile under water. It took him five minutes to do that on land. Under water, it took him eight. By the time he came up for air, he had almost blacked out. But it served its purpose; it taught him to think clearly under high-stress situations. Just like the one they were in now. 

But somehow, things felt different. He kept telling himself that it was not so – that this was just like any other combat mission. There were enemies out there that needed to be eliminated. No prisoners to be captured, which technically, made this even simpler. But taking everything into consideration, they were wedged in a seriously tight place. Firstly, there weren't enough men. If one of them got injured, there was no available medic. They had a limited number of weapons and the damn motion detectors were useless. No radio equipment was available to communicate with each other if they were separated. The absence of an initial tactical plan made it extremely difficult to come up with something that would be successful. Lastly, they had never encountered this type of enemy before. The kind of enemy that bled concentrated acid. What were they supposed to do if they shot one? Duck and cover?

'-et some sleep. I'll wake you when it's your shift.' Velko came out of his thoughts when he heard Bohr speak. She continued. 'And just for the record, I wanted to say that you were right – about the weapons check. We each had a responsibility and I...um...didn't take mine seriously.'

He smiled as she rose up. 'Forget it, it's done. And it could happen to any of us.' he said.

'Not to you.' she said.

He smiled, acknowledging both the apology and the compliment. 'Bohr?' he spoke as he watched her walk toward the second exit where she would be keeping guard. 

'Yeah?' 

'What are our chances?'

She looked at him and sighed. 'You ready for a story? I'll make it short...and I guarantee it ain't no tear-jerker or something you might see on the Hallmark channel.' He nodded, smiling, while she sat down on a nearby chair. 'My grandfather was in the military once. He was captured and taken hostage in World War five by the South Africans. He was a general – an important man, or so he thought – they were going to exchange him for five of their own. But our side sent word that he wasn't worth the five South African prisoners they'd captured. He wasn't even worth one. So he was due to be executed the next day.' She wiped the sweat off her brow before continuing. Her voice was low. Subdued. 'He felt as if he'd been screwed by his own – and his situation was detiorating rapidly. If he stayed, he'd be killed. If he tried to escape, there was a ninety percent chance he'd be shot. He took his second option. He escaped from his cell by crawling through the underground sewage system. He said there were several moments when he just wanted to turn back, but he willed himself on and crawled through two miles of shit, urine and god knows what. Then when he finally got out he found himself in a forest – he had no idea of which direction to go, all he knew was that he had to walk away from where he came. He didn't know how much time had passed when he heard the sound of rotors and barking dogs, they were searching for him. There were nights when the probes the South Africans sent passed within a few yards of him – he was so terrified that at times he just wanted to be shot and get it all over with. But on the seventh day he made it to Mozambique – friendly territory, and lived to tell about it. He didn't exactly know how. He just did it.' 

Bohr seemed exhausted. As if telling the story had drained out all her remaining energy. Maybe she put all her effort into believing in a happy outcome, thought Velko. He wanted to believe it too. 'So you're saying things'll be alright. Even when everything's going to hell.' said Velko.

'I'm saying that you gotta just keep doing what you're doing. Keep on breathing. The rest is beyond our control. I can't tell you what our chances here are coz I don't know. A man can be safe in his own home and get struck by lightning the next minute while on the telephone. I'm telling you the truth...and the truth is that you never know.'

'That's not very comforting.' he said.

'If you wanted comfort, you should've stayed with mom and ordered a pepperoni pizza with extra anchovies.' she retorted.

They laughed.

                                                                                   *           *          *

In his dreams, Sebastian Velko felt cold and wet. He was running from something – from something that looked like a large black spider. But he didn't stop to get a better look because he was running out of time. A few meters away he saw Call standing by a doorway encouraging him to run faster, beckoning to him urgently with her hand. But as he ran on both the doorway and Call drew away from him. The harder he ran, the further away it seemed. He slipped in the wet mud, and struggled to get up. Something cold brushed against his right arm. He gasped as he jerked out of his dream. 

Call was clutching his arm, and her eyes were wide. 'There's movement outside. Outside the compound.'

'She's right.' confirmed Bohr. 'Sounds like some heavy vehicle just zoomed by.'

'Ours?' asked Velko.

'Hard to say.' replied Bohr.

Velko's spirits lifted. He imagined seeing those familiar faces again – Roche, Shepards, Kroger, even Lieutenant Mills. 'I say we go out there and get a piece of the action.' He felt more confident if he could be amongst more people, especially if they were people from his own squad. 

'You nuts? We don't even know if it's them!' said Bohr harshly.

'Well I'm not in the mood to sit around here and debate whether they are or not!' he spoke back.

They looked at Call. 'He's got a point. We've got more force in numbers even though there's a chance that that might draw the aliens to us. But it's a chance I'm willing to take. You okay with this?' Call looked at Bohr. 

'I'm not one to veto the popular vote. Yeah...what the hell, let's go join the throng.'

'Just keep in mind that if they are our boys, their objective's to capture the alien alive. Ours is to blow it to hell. The only way we do that is to get to Mills first and subdue him.' reminded Call.

'Understood. I'll get the guns.' said Bohr. 'Hey Velko, what'll it be? Laser or side-arm?' 

'Laser, please. And my revolver with some ammo on the side – to go.' he concluded.

'The same for me.' said Call.

Bohr threw two laser blasters to Call and Velko. They each strapped on some holsters to store the revolvers if needed. Bohr slung the backpack containing their weapons over her shoulders whilst Velko did the same for the bag containing their rations.

'Stay close,' said Call as they walked out into the hallway and opened the main doors. The wind came hurtling in at them with a vengeance. 'I guess we can chuck the leisurely evening stroll out the window.' quipped Call, smiling nervously.

_No kidding_, thought Velko.

'How'd we know where they went?' shouted Bohr.

'There!' Call yelled back pointing towards something. 'The exhaust tower!'

The three of them looked up to see a faint flicker of lights a few meters away. They made their way slowly towards it. 

                                                                                     *         *          *

When they reached the massive structure, the door was open. _Like the jaws of a lion, thought Bohr. Beyond it lay a dark metal corridor. They walked down it leaving the wind howling outside behind them until they reached a stairway. _

'Up or down?' asked Bohr.

'Down.' Call replied. 'I heard something in that direction.' 

'Keep it tight folks. There are only three of us. Call, Bohr, cover me. I'm going in first.'

'Be careful. Camouflage is one of their strong points.' cautioned Call.

_Do they have any weaknesses,_ thought Velko? The laser blaster was extended out in front of him, the dial set on high, meaning that whatever he hit was meant to be killed - leaving no room for error. The corners the metal staircase made were tight and surrounding them were several other platforms. Almost as if this compound was still undergoing some construction. The lighting was poor making it difficult to discern certain objects. He could feel his heart beat at a steady but hurried pace and he willed it to slow down. _Check corners, any entrances through which an enemy could approach you. Focus. Two more floors to clear. Keep it cool, man, keep it cool. He recited this to himself like a mantra, his mouth forming the words with no sound. _

Finally, they made it to what appeared to be the basement level. He breathed out. 'Looks like it's a one way street from here on...' he said, pointing up ahead of them. There was only one corridor. 

'Alright. Velko, you're gonna have to forego the lead. It's my turn. And-' began Call when she was suddenly interrupted by the sound of voices that weren't their own. She realized that for the sound to carry through to where they were, the voices would have to be loud. Meaning that those people in there were shouting. Something had gone wrong.

'Oh _shit_.' breathed Velko. 'They're getting slaughtered! Let's go!' 

Call and Bohr didn't stand around to argue. They ran hard towards the direction of the noise.

                                                                                     *         *          *

Whoever told Bohr that combat could be silent yet deadly must have been stoned. There was nothing but chaos and confusion surrounding them. Her ears were almost deafened by the sound of screams and gunfire erupting everywhere. She looked at the faces of the men and women – they weren't Call's, they weren't her comrades – but it didn't really matter right now. 

Velko looked around him pointing his blaster every which way, but he couldn't find a target. He cursed loudly as someone jostled past him nearly knocking his weapon out of his hand. He swung around thinking that something was going to attack him from the side, but it was another marine clutching his arm and yelling. It took a moment for Velko to register that the marine's arm was smoking. Smoking from the acid. He couldn't find a damned target and yet there was no mistaking that people around him were getting killed. _Goddamn it!_

Nothing and everything was happening all at once. Call knew this feeling. She'd felt it before. She held herself back from the midst of the fighting knowing that it would only add to the confusion. She stayed wedged in a tight corner, picking off targets from friendlies from where she was. At first she couldn't make out the creatures when suddenly she noticed the wall next to one marine come alive. _They were hidden in the walls_. They came out of the woodwork like termites, and she shot each one down as it did so. Still, like termites they were plentiful, and her blaster was heating up fast. She kept shooting at her enemies despite the overuse of her weapon – she wanted them dead. But more than anything, Call wanted to get these people out of here – to give them a fighting chance. To do that she would need some people to serve as cover whilst the others evacuated the premises. But she couldn't make herself heard over the confusion. She hoped to God that Velko and Bohr were okay. 

                                                                                     *         *          *

Velko was frightened, angry and frustrated. He was about to head back when he saw something glimmer out of the corner of his eye. He turned, thinking that someone has shone a flashlight at him, but he wasn't prepared for what he was about to see. 

It towered three feet above him, and looked almost as if the devil himself was grinning maniacally at him. Its head was sleek and black – God, the head was _huge. Its teeth glistened as saliva oozed from its jaws, and it emitted a silent hiss. Slowly, numbly, he felt himself point his blaster upwards to the creature. The jaws shot out towards him in slow motion, and he could only watch, terrified, expecting the inevitable. But something happened. It's torso split into two as it fell backwards, and then suddenly as if everything resumed its normal speed again, he dove away from the creature, remembering the hot corrosive blood. His chin hit cold metal and in the next second, he felt himself get yanked up by the arm. He rose to his feet to see the face of an unknown marine staring at him. _

'The next time you see those things, you don't stop for introductions, you shoot!' The marine turned around looking at their only escape route and shouted over the chaos to Velko. 'You the rescue evac team? We have two injured that I'm aware of – this place has gone to hell – shit-' He saw a creature approach them from the left and fired. It was hit but not down. Velko raised his blaster and let off a couple shots of his own. It went down squealing. 

The marine looked at Velko's weapon for a second but said nothing. Velko shouted, 'We need to get the hell out of here! Let's grab the injured and go!'

The other man nodded and ran towards what looked like a flame thrower – Velko had heard about these weapons in some older weapons manuals. They were hardly in use any more and he longed to get his hands on one because there was always something empowering about being able to control fire, but now he couldn't care less. They came to a halt. The flamer thrower lay on the ground emitting a steady fire, but its user was nowhere to be seen. 'They were right here! I don't understand! They were right here!' the marine cried out.

'They got him – there's nothing you can do! Out! We need to get out!' shouted Velko, grabbing the man by the arm and pulling him towards the exit. Velko heard a bullet fly past him with a crack, meaning that it had missed him by a narrow margin. Shit. They didn't even know who they were shooting at anymore. The marine kept his pace alongside him as they raced towards the staircase. Velko saw someone standing before them with a heavy machine gun slung over her shoulder. She glanced at Velko and shouted over to the other marine. 'Hicks! Me 'n Drake'll cover you. Hudson's right in front! GO!' 

Velko pulled back the marine called Hicks. 'I'm not leaving without my people! They're in here somewhere – I gotta find them!'

The woman looked at him, eyes blazing. 'There's no fucking time! I'm running out of ammo...I can't hold out much longer!'

Velko had steeled himself to turn back to look for Call and Bohr when he saw a hulking distorted figure emerge from the gloom behind them. It took him a moment to realize that it was actually two people – Call was half running, half limping, carrying someone's slumped form over her right shoulder. It was Bohr. _Oh God no_...he thought.

'Let's move out...she doesn't look good!' said Call, panting.

No one spoke. Velko helped Call carry Bohr while they hurried up the stairs with Hicks behind them, shooting at any creature that dared to get close. They were almost up when to the main level when Call heard Hicks yell, 'I'm down on ammo! You guys better step up the pace – I see one making its way up here!'

'Here!' shouted Call, throwing her laser blaster down to him. 'The safety's off – just pull the trigger!' Hicks caught the gun, held it awkwardly at first and fired. A shot went off with a zing. It was light and therefore, easier to manipulate. The next shot felled the alien in one go. Heck, this was almost better than a pulse rifle. Almost.

They made it to the main level and ran towards the main doors. Hicks opened them, and looked out into the rain and dust hopefully. A large armored car was a few meters ahead of them and its doors were open. He motioned for Call and Velko carrying the injured Bohr to get into it. 'Get in there and keep those doors open! We need to wait for Drake and Vasquez!' 

Hicks' eyes narrowed as he saw his two remaining comrades run shouting towards him down the corridor. 'I'm out of ammo! Drake's got our back, c'mon!' screamed Vasquez as she ran towards the open doors.

                                                                                     *         *          *

Velko lay Bohr down gently and looked at her. The right side of her face was covered with blood, and her pants had turned many shades darker near her thigh. He couldn't tell whether it was a bullet wound or whether those things had done this to her. He'd had basic first aid training but he was no medic. He got down on his knees and immediately began to apply pressure to the wounded area. Blood, bright red, spurted out – it looked like she took a hit to the femoral artery. The artery that carried blood to the lower half of the body. If they didn't get her some serious medical attention, she would almost certainly die. But he wouldn't let it happen. He focused all his attention on Bohr, ignoring Hicks holding Vasquez back as she struggled to go out of the car to help a fallen marine. He ignored Call as she and another man forced the armored door shut while an alien tried frantically to get in. He ignored the screams of pain coming from behind him as the car started moving away from the tower. He continued to work on Bohr - he needed to focus on something else or he would go mad. 

And that was just the tip of the iceberg. 


	10. Chapter 10

'Drake! He's down!' cried Vasquez as she saw her friend get sprayed with hot acid across his chest and face. She made towards the car's doorway to help him - they were leaving no one behind, especially Drake. Suddenly, something pulled her back while she struggled and squirmed to get out of the iron grip. Had she been thinking clearer, she would have easily been able to do so, but her mind was filled with the screams of the dying, their pain mingled with hers. And she couldn't accept the fact that Drake was now among them.

'He's gone! Forget it, he's gone!' shouted the voice behind her. But the voice sounded distorted, distant. 

_It isn't true_, thought Vasquez. 'No...No-he's not! He's-' she protested, struggling harder to get out of the car.

Two more pairs of arms were flung around her and she was dragged away from the door. Hicks immediately began to slide the door shut when a curved black claw appeared from the outside, inches away from his hand. He heard a high pitched scream emanate from within the interior of the car, but ignored it as a black head appeared through the space in the doorway, hissing menacingly. _My shotgun_, he remembered. But his heart sank as he realized that he'd run out of ammunition earlier on and he'd left the laser blaster somewhere inside the car. 

'Allow me.' said a voice nearby. He watched in relieved amazement as the butt of another blaster shoved up against the side of the creature's head and went off. He ducked, anticipating a gush of acid to come raining down on him, but there was none. 

'A laser shot makes for a clean kill if you do it right,' explained Call as she helped Hicks shut the door. 'Let's go!' she shouted towards the driver of the vehicle who was hidden behind a portion of metal inside. The car jerked to a start and began roaring down the rocky terrain, causing its passengers to grab a hold of anything to steady themselves from the bumpy ride that ensued. 

Call looked around for Velko who lay a few yards away from her, hunched over Bohr's limp form. 'How's she doing?' she asked, already aware of his answer.

'She's losing blood. We need to get an IV into her pronto. And once we've reached safer ground, I think we'll need to find a compatible blood donor,' he replied as he placed an improvised version of a tourniquet onto her leg, 'not to mention a fully qualified medic.' Velko muttered to himself. 

The vehicle screeched to a sudden halt. Everyone's head jerked upwards, alarmed - only two minutes had elapsed since their escape - surely they couldn't have reached a safe location yet? Then they heard a crash - the sound of breaking glass from the front of the car. Hicks ran towards the noise, alarmed. Just then, the car started moving again, and whatever it was that had crashed through was gone now. The only evidence of its presence was a hole in the windshield and shards of glass on the floor. 

Call had stumbled and fallen backwards when the car had stopped. She picked herself up and followed Hicks. She gaped at the windshield hole and then turned to look at the driver, 'Did you get it?' asked Call. The driver nodded, obviously too shaken to say a word. Her face was pale, wisps of sweat-soaked curly hair stuck to the sides of it and her eyes registered nothing but pure fear. But she drove on, flooring the accelerator until they began to hear screeching sounds outside - the sounds of metal scraping against metal. Call looked around her dazed, this was not how she had anticipated their meeting. 'Ripley...' she began.

But Hicks interrupted her, as he eased Ripley's hand back on the throttle lever. 'It's okay...We're clear. We're clear. Ease up.' Ripley continued to look ahead, not acknowledging his words. Hicks spoke again, trying to get through to her. 'Sounds like a blown transaxle. You're just grinding metal.'

The car finally slowed down to a halt when Ripley sprung up, 'Newt! Where's Newt?' 

Call turned around with Ripley to find out who Newt was when she saw a girl - no older than eleven or twelve - with disheveled blonde hair sitting hunched and unharmed in corner. _I remember someone...a little girl,_ the words rang in Call's mind. Those were Ripley's last words before Call left her own time. So it was true then. Not that Call had doubted any of it, but hearing the truth and believing it were two entirely different situations. It felt as if she was living a legend, it was a difficult concept to grasp and she struggled internally with it. But now was not the time to succumb to internal turmoil, _we need to get this done. I need for this to be over._

                                                             *          *          *

They grouped together inside the vehicle trying to size up their situation. Only Velko remained apart, attending to Bohr in a corner. He watched in silence as the marine - the woman - made for yet another prostate life form with her fist raised. Apparently, the unconscious man was responsible for this mishap, although Velko would hardly call it that. Mass murder sounded more appropriate. But the poor bastard couldn't have anticipated even this. 

Velko looked around him, but these faces, these people, were all a blur. The most information he could register was that there were about six of them - excluding Call, Bohr and himself - all trapped in the middle of nowhere with little ammunition, like sitting ducks in the center of an open lake. He needed a distraction.

He looked back down at Bohr. Her eyelids fluttered, but she'd done that earlier, and he'd given up hoping that she was coming around. Velko squeezed her hand tighter and spoke to her quietly. 'You're doing just fine, kiddo. Keep breathing, just keep breathing. You leave the rest to us. If your granddad can crawl through two miles of crap 'n all, this should be a piece of cake.' Velko spoke as if he was trying to believe his own words. He looked back up at the wall of the car. It was unbelievable how quickly the situation had spiraled beyond their control. 

He didn't feel certain of anything; their chances of survival in this hostile place were dropping with each passing minute. He wanted to just give up, surrender arms and wait for the inevitable, but something wouldn't let him.

'Velko.' said Call, suddenly by his side.

He looked up at her as she continued. 'We need to get to General Mills. We need to get Bohr to a medic and we need to get these people out of here.' She spoke quietly, as if she didn't want to be overheard. _No chance of that,_ thought Velko as he listened to the loud din of voices inside the vehicle.

'He's not gonna like it.' Velko couldn't think of anything better to say. 

'Given our situation, I don't think his feelings or consequences are an option, do you?'

'What're you gonna tell him?'

'It's not what I'm going to tell. It's what I'm going to do.' she said.

Suddenly, idea started taking shape and form, he felt as if the dense fog in his head was clearing. 'You're thinking mutiny.'

'I'm thinking a lot of things right now...but yeah, this is one of them. We need to subdue Mills, but before we do that we've got to get Ripley and these people away from here. We can take them to Mills' location and demand an immediate evac. Once that has been accomplished, we'll have to get Mills to see things from our point of view.'

'And if he doesn't?'

'You know the rest.' she said, a-matter-of-factly.

And he did.

                                                          *          *          *

Velko and Call turned up their heads sharply at the sound of someone's panicked voice. It was a third marine - Velko realized that he hadn't even noticed his presence throughout the commotion. He looked towards the man, his hand was pointing towards several computer screens. It took Velko a moment to realize that these were monitoring the vital signs of each marine who had gone into the fray just over an hour ago.

'Hey, hey! Look, Crowe and Dietrich aren't dead, man!' cried the marine.

Suddenly everyone was silent. The marine's panic-filled voice echoed around the confined walls of the armored vehicle. Velko watched intently as a tall woman stepped forward. He was surprised to hear her voice, it sounded calm, resolute and yet devoid of hope. 'You can't help them. Right now they're being cocooned just like the others.'

'Well why don't these cowboys here go get them? They're the rescue team, aren't they?' whined the marine, pointing to Call and Velko.

Everyone turned to look at Call and Velko. Velko looked away as Call spoke. 'Yes,' she began, ignoring Velko as he flinched at the lie, 'But she's right.' Call pointed at Ripley before continuing. 'I've seen these things do this before. We can't help your friends. The most we can do right now is help the remaining few who're alive. I know where-'

She was suddenly interrupted by Hicks. 'Hold up, we're not going anywhere except out of here. I'm gonna contact the dropship.'

Vasquez concurred. She looked back at Hicks with fire in her eyes. 'But not without blowing up those things. I'm not leaving without a fight.'

Ripley sighed. 'Take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.' She lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply, almost desperately. 

'Now hold on a minute here,' Velko saw a man - dressed as if he was on vacation - emerge from behind Vasquez. 'I can't authorize that kind of action.' Everyone's attention turned to him as he continued, slightly perturbed by the reaction he was causing. 'Look, I know this is an emotional moment for everyone, but let's not make any snap judgments. This is an important species we're dealing with here; we can't just arbitrarily eliminate them.'

'Watch us.' spoke Vasquez. Her tone meant business.

Ripley spoke up, holding her smoking cigarette in her hand. 'I believe that Corporal Hicks has authority here. This operation has military jurisdiction and Hicks is next in the chain of command. Aren't you?' she said, looking at Hicks.

'Yeah...' he answered.

Burke interrupted. 'Look! This is a multimillion dollar operation! He can't make that kind of a decision - he's just a grunt - no offense,' he said to Hicks.

'None taken.' he replied, although it was obvious that Hicks had taken an instant dislike to the man. He spoke into his radio, he was contacting the dropship. 'Prep for dust-off. We're gonna need an immediate evac. I think we'll take off and nuke this site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.' He looked at Ripley.

'Wait a second, there are more people here - from our team, I mean. We can't nuke this place unless we get everyone off.' Call's voice was urgent. She saw now that the others - except for Burke - functioned as a unit. It would be difficult to explain her situation to them given that she was an outsider. Literally. But she had to try to convince them. 'You'll have to give us time to get the remaining survivors out of here.'

'There are more people here?' questioned Ripley.

'Hold up a second. We don't know who you are or why you're even here.' spoke Hicks. Then quietly, he said, 'You're not the rescue team, are you?'

'No.' said Call. 'Our intentions were the same as his.' she pointed towards Burke. 'To ensure the survival of the organism. But let's just say that we didn't share the same beliefs as our squad did. So we...deserted. Now all we want to do is blow 'em off this planet - as much as you do - but I can't let the rest of our squad die in the process.'

'Screw you guys! No one invited you along for the party! You make your own mess, you clean it up!' shouted the third marine.

'Shut up Hudson.' snapped Hicks. He didn't have the time nor the patience for this bickering. He looked at Call. 'Alright. We'll get Gorman, Ripley, Hudson, Newt and your friend on the dropship. But Vasquez, Bishop and I stay behind to make sure you keep your word. I'm not gonna listen to any more arguments.'

'Fair enough.' replied Call, feeling slightly vindicated.

                                                               *          *          *

They drove to the pickup location and got out of the car. As they got out of the vehicle, Call noticed that the sky was growing darker, if that were even possible. She and Velko laid Bohr along with the other limp form, Gorman, behind a small outcrop of rocks to offer them both meager shelter from the wind. 

'Should be here any minute...' said Hicks not to anyone in particular.

Velko bent over and held onto Bohr's wrist, checking for a pulse. 'Call, she's getting weaker.' he said.

Call didn't answer. She looked up at the sky, just as everyone else did, for any sign of the dropship. _This is a pretty little situation we've gotten ourselves into,_ she thought. _Some bloody hero I've turned out to be._ She looked over at Ripley who was carrying the girl in her arms. _At least they'd be on that ship - away from this place. At least they'd both be safe._

Suddenly they heard a deep whine, and saw the approaching ship emerge from the darkening clouds. 

'Yeah, man! We're outta here!' someone shouted. Out of the corner of her eye, Call saw Ripley give a slight smile. 

But something was wrong.

The ship pitched sharply to one side - as if the pilot had momentarily lost control. It then rolled around for a few seconds before its nose pointed towards the ground, heading straight towards them. The sound grew louder as the dropship grew closer, hurtling towards them speedily.

'Run!' 

They all ran away from the crashing ship, diving for cover wherever they could find it. Call helped Velko pick up Bohr as they both ran clumsily along the ground.

                                                             *          *          *

They stood around the crash site in disbelief. The plane had flown straight into their armored vehicle destroying their only means of transport on this barren planet. Flames from the smoking ship danced in the wind, mocking them. Shards and fragments of twisted metal lay around the company. Call heard the marine - she thought his name was Hudson - shout hysterically. She felt like doing the same thing herself. She was looking over at Ripley who was holding Newt and speaking to her when Hicks walked over and grabbed her shoulder.

'You said your squad was here too. We need to get to them.' he spoke.

'How?' said Call. She felt like searching for them now would be a lost cause. 'I don't know where they are.'

'Didn't you come with them? Where's the landing site?'

'No...no, we came alone. Just the three of us.' Her shoulders drooped.

Hicks looked at her questioningly but decided that this was not the time. 'Well, we need to get off this place. And right now it looks like they're our only chance.'

'What about our ship? The one we came in?' spoke Velko, his face suddenly lighting up.

'Do you know where it is?' asked Hicks.

'Yeah, don't think it was too far from the tower.' answered Velko.

'We can't run that risk. That's too close to those things. What about your squad?' 

His questions were quick, rapid. It was obvious that his thinking was systematic, he was probably checking off their options off one by one in his head, starting from best to worst, thought Velko. 'If I remember correctly, maybe north, or north-east from the main compound.'

'Maybe...?' asked Hicks. He didn't like the sound of this. 'You don't know for sure? Because if you don't, we can't be running around-'

He was interrupted by Call. 'I remember. It was north-east. That's in that direction.' She pointed to her right. 

'All right, let's go. You lead the way.' He turned to the rest of them. 'Vasquez! You take rear guard. Hudson, you take Gorman. Ripley, Newt, Burke stay in the center. Whatever happens, just try to stay together.'

The small company grouped together, and marched quietly and quickly away from the crash site.

                                                               *          *          *

They'd been walking for a good twenty minutes before they found the main compound. They waited outside, huddled together in the cold wind while Hudson and Vasquez went inside and brought out another survivor. Call recognized the man to be an artificial person as well and wondered quietly to herself why he was with them. But she said nothing as they moved on, in silence.

Half an hour later, after losing their sense of direction twice, they saw signs of the presence of people - a large tent lay in a clearing surrounded by overhanging rocks. On closer inspection, what appeared to be a lamp inside the tent turned out to be the flickering light of a small fire. Call left the group despite Velko's shouts and ran up to it. The fire wasn't deliberate, she noticed. She parted the opening of the tent quickly with her hands, and saw boxes and small crates strewn about, as if something had toppled them over. The fire had been caused by a small gasoline lamp that had been knocked down, and it burned with determined resolve lighting up the inside of the tent with an eerie glow. She looked about her, for bodies, expecting the worst. But there weren't any. She closed her eyes, trying to deny everything that she had just seen.

Hicks stepped up behind her and looked around. 'We've found your ship. It's just a bit higher up.' He stared at the fire. 'There's nothing you could've done.'

Opening her eyes, she said, 'They were my men. I was their General, and they were my men. I deserted them...I left them...to let them face _this._' She shut her eyes tightly.

'You had your reasons.' He held her arm and began to pull her away. Call let him, walking alongside him dejectedly.

Each one of them looked up the slope towards the dim glow of the ship with cautious hope. Each step they made was painful, and the rocky terrain did nothing to ease the pain on their feet. But they were nearly there - only a few more yards. 

As they were climbing the sides of the hill towards the ship, something jumped out from their left. Vasquez swung her gun around and let out a short burst of gunfire that echoed against the rocks walls loudly. Velko turned to look at the cause of their current distress when he recognized the figure. He immediately knocked the gun out of Vasquez's hands before she could open further fire.

'What the-' she began to protest.

'Roche!' shouted Velko.

'Oh my God, man...Is that you?' spoke the figure.

Velko looked Roche over. _Vasquez hadn't hit him_, he thought, relieved. But he was scared, noticed Velko - and it would have taken a colossal event to scare the pants off Roche. 'Yeah...what happened?'

'We were attacked. Before we even went in. There were hundreds of them, man! Hundreds! They came in last night in swarms. We can't get the ship to take-off, we got twelve men dead, three injured...there's no way off this place...no freakin' way!' his voice quivered and broke as he spoke.

Velko ran up to him and held his shoulders. 'Take it easy, we can work through this...you gotta listen to me, okay? Are they in the ship? Are those things in there?'

'No,'

'Who's in there?'

'Shepards, Janson, Walker, Johans...I don't know, man, I don't know...Are we gonna leave this place?'

'Yes.' answered Velko. 'We're gonna leave.'

Velko walked up to the others, his face grave. 'He says the ship can't take-off. They were attacked last night - we lost...we lost twelve people.'

Ripley stepped up, her jaw set. 'Where's the other ship - the one you three came in?'

'Like I said, it's by the tower.'

'Looks like that's our only choice.' said Ripley. She held onto Newt's hand tightly.

'Did he say that they were attacked at night?' asked Hicks.

'Yeah...' answered Velko, his voice trailing off as he looked up at the black night. The bleak presence of the sun was no longer visible - it had set almost two hours ago.

'We're not moving anywhere until dawn.' said Hicks. He nodded his head towards the ship. 'In there - that's where we're going. Just for tonight.' He looked down at Newt and gave her a slight smile.

'And wait to be slaughtered? That's some reckless call you're making, Corporal.' said Burke.

'When I want your opinion, I'll ask for it.' Hicks looked sharply at Burke and then turned away. 'Let's get in there.' 

                                                             *          *          *

Call heard the ship's doors close with a metallic clang. She walked towards the small group consisting of Ripley, Hicks, and Vasquez. Their voices were hushed yet intense. She didn't want to discuss anything at that moment; the situation was hopeless now, as far as she could see it. Every way off this place seemed to lead to a dead end. What was the point? She wished intently that none of this had ever happened. She wished that she'd never decided to come to this godforsaken place. This place, this place consisted of nothing but everyone's nightmares. In their darkest form. There was no hope. No nothing. Lieutenant Mills was dead. Several of her men were dead. And somewhere, in the back of her mind, she felt as if it were her fault. _I could've warned them, I should've done something before all this,_ she thought. Her guilt kept surging upwards towards the surface and she struggled in vain to suppress it. _But would they have listened? Would anyone have listened?_

'Call.'

She turned towards the voice. It was Velko. 'What is it?' she asked. But the truth was that she didn't really care to hear.

'Bohr's gonna be alright. I took her to the med tech room. The tourniquet stopped further bleeding and we got an IV into her and some blood too. She's gonna make it.'

_But the question is: will we,_ thought Call? 'That's one piece of good news.' she said instead.

'There's more.' he said, smiling.

'I think we're gonna be able to take-off. I took a look at the auto-pilot take-off procedure. It's somehow screwed up all the manual take-off settings. If we can restore the default settings, we're good to go.'

Her eyes perked up suddenly. 'Do you know how to do that?' she asked cautiously.

'No, but you do. The system requires authorized access - which I can't get.'

'Then let's get to it.' she said. Maybe there was some hope left after all.

As they walked towards the cockpit, several questions took form in Call's mind. The fact that they could take-off was one thing. But it would also mean that she hadn't achieved what she had come out here to do. 'Velko...we need enough explosives - nuclear - when we leave. To blow this place up.'

'That would mean setting it up, wiring it up to the computer and triggering the explosion once we're in the clear.'

'Exactly.'

'I don't think that's going to work. The computer's not functioning properly. Our communication system is down, which means that any system to system line isn't going to work. And we don't have anything here that can create the kind of nuclear power you're looking for. But we do have some contained packages of nitro available instead - they come in the standard sized packs as supplies for every mission.'

'That won't do,' said Call frustrated. 'Dammit! How could we know if the nitro will wipe out those things?'

'We can't.'

She didn't reply. But slowly, as if something was curdling inside of her, she felt dread creep into her mind. If the communication system was down, they would not be able to destroy the aliens. And if they didn't set up the nitro-bombs in the correct place, all their efforts would be in vain. Which would mean that everything would remain as it was. More people would come to get the creatures, and more people would die. It would be a never-ending cycle of death. The answer to her problem was there - all along. Just as she was. She just didn't want to acknowledge it. 'Velko,'

'Yeah?'

'Could we set off the explosion manually?'

He hesitated for a moment. 'What do you mean - manually?'

'If someone used a short timer, and pushed the big red button, would the bomb go off?'

He closed his eyes, knowing exactly what she was thinking. A minute ago, he'd felt his hope surge. He didn't care about whether the creatures lived or died. He was simply grateful that they had survived, and that they were leaving. Leaving! The very thought seemed like a beautiful dream. But now it dissipated as quickly as it had formed. He knew that Call would not ask him to do what she was suggesting. No, she would do it herself. It was what she had set out to do all this while. And he was a part of it too, he couldn't back out now. 

Velko swallowed before replying. 'Timers are a thing of the past. But I could make one...not so good, but good enough...we could do it.'

She looked at him and smiled. 'I'm not asking you to come, I can do this alone.'

'Hell yeah, you could. But you need someone to watch your back. Just in case.'

'No...I want you to think about it. This is your chance to get out of here. Take it. I can make it out on the ship we came in. You should leave while you still can.'

'I could,' he looked steadily back at her. 'But I won't. Take the offer while it still stands, Analee.' 

She looked down at her shoes. No one had called her that for a long while. Hours before Velko had wanted nothing but to escape - she could see it in his eyes. But now she couldn't read him or his motives. Call didn't want to try, she just took great comfort in the thought that she wouldn't be left alone to take on these demons. 

Velko continued. 'What about the others? And your friend, Ripley...what're you going to tell them?'

She looked over to the room that the others were in and breathed in deeply. 'The truth.' 

She turned and walked towards them.


	11. Chapter 11

Call stood facing the interior wall of the ship, rapping her knuckles against it, thinking. She'd explained to Ripley, Hicks, Vasquez and Burke why exactly they were here. No easy task, given the situation, and it had taken her a lengthy two hours to do so. Two hours meant more precious time lost – but it had been necessary. 

Call felt exhausted. She leaned her head back and rubbed the base of her neck. They'd taken it well, or so she thought. Perhaps she simply chose to interpret their reactions of silence as that of stunned acceptance. Well, at least almost all of them had accepted it. Burke, however, had scoffed midway through her explanation, rose up without a word and strode away from the group. Not that his opinion at this point would have counted anyway, and he knew it. Ripley...Ripley was harder to read. She had leant back up against the wall of the ship and lit another cigarette. _I didn't want for it to be this way,_ thought Call. _But, that's how things happened…and there it is,_ she had said as she finished. They didn't say much afterwards, except that they needed time to confer amongst themselves, and Call had left them to it, somewhat relieved to be alone.

She turned away from the wall to see Ripley standing in front of her, looking at her steadily. Call smiled, but Ripley did not return it. 'You said we have another five hours before we leave. Why don't you take this chance, and come with us?' spoke Ripley.

Call looked ahead of her as they both sat down on two adjacent seats. 'I told you. Because I have to finish this thing once and for all. While I still have the opportunity.'

'Even if it means that you might die trying?'

Call sighed and wondered to herself. Why couldn't Ripley realize that Call had decided that she was willing to pay the ultimate price to ensure that they, and future generations to come, wouldn't have to face this horror ever again? Call had thought that Ripley would appear more grateful, more comforting about it. Apparently not. 'Yes. Even if that means I might die trying.' answered Call.

'After all you've been through, after what you've seen – I'd think you'd want to get the hell away from here.' said Ripley.

_Why the persistence,_ thought Call? _As if I hadn't thought about the very idea myself, and fought against my own selfish motives_... And then it occurred to her. Hadn't Ripley herself been through the same agonizing process a few weeks ago? She'd narrowly escaped with her life aboard the Nostromo and was fortunate enough to be picked up in her drifting ship somewhere near the frontier. To go back into the fire seemed pointless, one could even say; crazy. But yet she had decided to come. And now, she was testing Call. She wanted to know whether she and Call shared the same honorable intentions for doing what they were doing, or whether Call had separate plans that were linked to the interests of the Company. At this moment, there was nothing more that Call wanted than for Ripley to be on _her_ side. She wanted empathy, not sympathy. She needed for Ripley to understand.

'You wanna know the real reason for why I'm doing this? I'm doing it for you.' said Call calmly.

'Doing it for me...?' repeated Ripley, not understanding.

'There's something I left out. I didn't think you needed to know... Back where I came from, they cloned you. But you were an almost complete hybrid – our species mingled with theirs. I didn't think it was right, and neither did you. So you asked me to change things. And,' Call laughed sadly, 'I promised I would.'

Ripley closed her eyes momentarily. She didn't need to know which species Call was referring to. And she didn't want to know how this had all come about. _Later.__ She would deal with this later._ 'Analee, I'm sorry.' She placed a hand on Call's shoulder.

'Call. Just Call. No one calls me Analee.' She looked down, relieved that Ripley finally saw things clearly.

'Alright Call. You do what you have to do.'

'But don't you want to know? How all of this happened, I mean?' asked Call as she watched Ripley rise up.

'I don't need to right now. Besides, you're going to change all that...and I will never need to understand because none of it would have happened. Right?' she smiled at Call.

'Let's hope so.' 

                                                                 *          *          *

Ripley lay in her bunk with Newt, holding onto the girl tightly as she slept. Sleep for Ripley was hard to come by these days. Peaceful, uninterrupted, dreamless sleep, that is. But if it was sleep filled with those horrific black shapes in her mind, she'd rather do without it entirely. 

They were waiting for the sun to rise so that Call and Velko could leave when it was light out, to set up the device and then leave on their own ship before it went off. That's what they had all agreed on. Then as soon as Call and Velko had left, the rest of them would take off, and be gone. She and Newt wouldn't have to worry about a thing any more – they'd be safe – far away from this place. Ripley sighed. Then why didn't anything feel right?

Newt squirmed in Ripley's arms and moaned softly. She was having nightmares again. She nudged the girl gently with her hand. 'Newt...wake up, it's alright. It's alright...it's almost over.' 

Newt opened her eyes and cautiously took in her surroundings. 'We're leaving today.' she said quietly.

'Yeah honey. That's right.' She smoothed the girl's hair back with her hand.

'No more monsters?' 

'No more.'

'But Ripley...what if the monsters try to get back home?' Newt turned to face her.

'Some people here are staying behind to make sure that they don't.' explained Ripley.

'Who? The new people?'

'Yes.'

'But what if they die too?'

Ripley remained quiet, unwilling to answer. She hoped that Newt wouldn't press her for one. But the girl simply looked at her and understood that some things were never certain. That every story didn't come with a happy ending. It wasn't fair that she had to know such things at this young age. She should have been – right now – with her parents and her brother. Far away from here. Monsters should have been something she had simply read or heard about in stories, not something real that had slaughtered her family and the rest of the colonists.

It made the anger swell up inside of her. How could the Company so recklessly endanger the lives of so many people? And then they had the audacity to partially disguise the rescue operation as an investigation of the life form. Why else had Burke been so eager to prevent them from obliterating their species? It was disgusting and it wasn't right. _But it's almost over,_ she told herself. It wasn't her problem anymore. She could go back, and begin a new life with Newt. 

But how could she do that without knowing whether the alien species was destroyed or not? If Call and Velko weren't successful, the Company might try obtaining the creature yet again, except with more determined resolve the second time around. How could she live with that uncertainty? _The truth is,_ she thought, _you can't._ _You can't go on living knowing that they're still out there – dormant or alive – that they might appear again to haunt you, and everyone you love._

Ripley looked back down at Newt, who had laid her head back down on the pillow, but wasn't asleep because she was too afraid to dream bad dreams. She was holding on tightly to a detached head from a doll, who she fondly referred to as Casey. 

Ripley hugged the girl, and shut her eyes. _No, it wasn't over yet._ She had made her decision.

                                                            *          *          *

Once Ripley made sure that Newt was soundly asleep, she got up from the bunk quietly and left the room. She made her way to a small storage room and looked around. She would need to take a few extra things along with her. She saw some carrier bags folded neatly on up on a shelf and some boxes labeled with their contents. Ripley grabbed one of the bags and began to stuff it full with some food, water and extra cartridges of ammunition. She saw an unopened Sprite can that lay idly next to some bottles of water and held it in her hand. _Drinks from the future,_ she thought. _I'm buying stocks from this company._ _If I live through this.___

She turned her head around as she heard footsteps approach her from behind.

'Ripley, I wanted to tell you that-' Hicks stopped in mid-sentence as he saw what she was doing. 'What's going on?'

_Might as well tell him now and get it over with._ 'I can't let them go alone, Hicks. I have to make sure they kill those things once and for all. It's just something I have to do,' she continued to walk around the room looking for anything useful that she could take. 'I can't explain it, so don't ask me to.'

'That makes three of us then.' he said.

Ripley stopped and looked back at him, eyebrows raised. 

'It's Vasquez. She told me the same thing. She refused to explain – because I wouldn't understand, she said.' He swallowed. It was clear to Ripley that he did. 'It's just that...too many people died back there, and it has to end at some point, doesn't it?'

'It will end, no matter what we do. But if we can make it end the way we want it to, then that's what matters.'

They didn't say anything for a few moments; they both clearly understood what it meant to go back out there again.

'So,' said Hicks, ending the silence as he looked around the room. 'Do you know anything about pulse rifles or do our new friends here use something more sophisticated?'

                                                                   *          *          *

Hicks walked into the sick bay, trying to adjust the body armor suits that Call had provided them with. It was considerably lighter than what he was used to, but it required too many adjustments to be made. Far too many to his liking. And they didn't make buckles and zips like they used to. Frustrated, he decided to simply tie a double knot to secure his knee plates and left it at that.

He walked over to the two beds and was surprised to see one occupant fully conscious. It was Lieutenant Gorman. He had a pale blue cloth wrapped tight around his head, and he sat up slowly as he saw Hicks approach him. 

'Long day huh, Lieutenant.' stated Hicks.

'If you say so. Where the hell are we?' He touched his bruised head lightly.

He hesitated, feeling reluctant to tell the Lieutenant everything that Call had told him. 'Almost out of here.' he said, trying to include as little information as possible in his words. Hicks hoped that Gorman would not pursue the matter.

He didn't. 'I take it our rescue mission didn't go so well.'

Hicks shook his head and frowned while Gorman continued. 'How many people have we lost? No wait – don't tell me. I'll take the heat for it later.' He looked up at the corporal recollecting how it had all gone wrong before he was unconscious. 'I guess I really made an ass out myself, huh.'

'I can't really disagree with that. Sir.'

'I didn't intend for everything to go to hell like it did. I really didn't anticipate it.' 

_That's why they made you a lieutenant, Gorman. So you could anticipate situations like this, and take charge. We looked to you to lead – but you just lost it and went cold on us. And now you hint at forgiveness._ But instead, Hicks said, 'Forget it. It's over.' And he walked out of the room.

As he walked through the doorway, he bumped into Private Hudson, who approached him looking somewhat perturbed. 'What's this I hear about you and Vasquez going back? Into that shit hole?' he asked Hicks.

'Yeah. You heard it right.'

'Man, you must be _nuts!_' He grabbed Hicks by the shoulder. 'Listen, you've been talking to those freaks over there too much. This jet is gonna leave in an hour. You should be on it. If they wanna go kill themselves – I say it's their own business. Not yours. Not mine. Theirs.'

'Hudson. I'm not asking you to come with us.' He slowly removed the marine's hand from his shoulder. 'And I appreciate your concern, but it is my business.'

'It's suicide, man.' said Hudson shaking his head.

'To you, maybe.' he said harshly, and then softened his tone. 'Listen, I _have_ to go. But I'm glad that you made it – and that you get to go back home. And I'm not asking you to follow me because I want you take this opportunity to get out of here.' With that, he walked away – lengthy words tired him. And it was almost time for him to leave with the others. 

He could hear Hudson muttering to himself as he walked off. 'It's just plain suicide, man...'

                                                                           *          *          *

Everyone was silent, as the dawn and the time for their departure approached. Velko, Vasquez and Hicks were conducting a last-minute check up on all the items they had taken with them while Call watched with uneasy quietness as Ripley said goodbye to Newt.

'Listen to me Baby, I promise that we will see each other again, do you understand?' She was kneeling before Newt, her hands on the girl's shoulders and her face leveled with hers.

'You can't keep promis-es here,' Newt was crying, unable to hold back her tears and her words broke between her sobs. 'Even if you mean to keep them.'

'Not here honey. Some place much better than here.' said Ripley, trying desperately to keep from crying herself.

'Heaven?' asked Newt.

'If something does happen to me, then yes. But I'm going to try my best to come back to you.' She wiped Newt's tears away gently with her fingers. 'Now I need for you to put on a brave face, because it makes me feel brave too.'

'So you can go fight monsters.' said Newt, pursing her lips to keep back the sobs.

Ripley nodded and suddenly hugged the girl, holding on to her tightly as if she was trying to get as much from one hug as she possibly could. She then rose up, stroked the girl's hair and willed herself to walk away from her. She felt the wind outside rush swirling in as the door behind her opened. She walked backwards, still looking at Newt. 'Take care of Casey for me, would you? When I come back I don't want to see her looking any different!'

She saw Lieutenant Gorman step up behind Newt, pick her up in arms as the girl gave a slight wave with her hand. And that was the last image she had of her.      

                                                                *          *          *

The five people stood in silence as they watched the large ship's engine give a deep resounding hum, and then lift off the ground. Part of it disappeared behind heavy grey clouds as it rose in altitude. 

'Alright folks. No use standing around here for a welcoming party – let's get to it.' said Hicks as he shouldered his bag and started making his way towards the construction tower. 

'Did you have a chance to test the timer?' Call asked Velko as they walked, weapons in hand.

'In between the packing, the weapons check and the nervous pacing back-and-forth, no.' he replied. 

Call smiled. 'Well, then did you manage to get some sleep?'   

'Some. But not enough.'

They walked on, each one silently cursing the rough winds. Their anger at the weather served as a convenient distraction from the fear they knew they were all about to face. But Velko didn't enjoy the silence as he normally would. He wanted to hear something other than the howling wind that tore at their hair and faces. He turned to the person nearest to him and tried to initiate conversation. 'So Ripley, on a lovely quiet morning such as this,' he winced at himself for this pathetic attempt, but continued. 'What would you rather be doing?'

Ripley looked at him as if he was mad. But then she suddenly gave in, and started laughing. 'You know, Velko, I would enjoy nothing more than to share a pleasant walk – much like this one – with you.'

He smiled an embarrassed smile and looked on. 'Are you sure he knows which way we're going?' he asked, nodding towards Hicks. Velko didn't much like the idea of getting lost in this wilderness.

'He knows what he's doing.' said Ripley. She explained to him that they would head towards the ship that he, Bohr and Call had arrived in first. Once they knew its exact position they could then set up the nitro-bombs allowing themselves sufficient time to take off before the explosion. 

'And you think there's a nest under the tower?' he asked, as the wind suddenly decided to quieten down.

'Yes.' she answered, somewhat uncomfortably. She wanted to avoid the topic whenever possible. '_Velko_...that's an unusual name. Where are you originally from?'

He looked about him before answering, thinking that he may have heard something other than the wind. 'Um, my parents were from Croatia actually. And then they migrated to Australia – they were taking in immigrants in at the time. I was born there before I moved to the UA when I was eleven.' 

Ripley nodded. 'So I take it that Yugoslavia has split into its separate states again. Or should I say, _will _split into separate states.' She paused, thinking. 'What's it like, knowing what's going to happen years from now?' 

He chuckled. 'You know, if I wasn't here obliterating aliens, I could make a million by running the most successful fortune-telling business in the world. I can see our company's slogan now,' he waved his hand about in front of him. 'We see the future as clearly as yesterday.'

'...Because the future _was_ yesterday.' continued Ripley smiling.

Suddenly they saw Call run up towards them, shouting as the wind immediately picked up in fury. 'We found the ship! This is it guys, the tower's not more than a hundred meters from here! Let's take up our positions!'

                                                             *          *          *

It was not necessary to open the door leading to the tower. It had been rammed down by the armored car when they had evacuated it the previous day. _We're going back into the madness,_ thought Ripley. She watched as Hicks and Velko took the front lead, and Call and Bohr covered them from behind. All conversation had ceased as each person focused entirely on the job at hand.

They approached the staircase they had used before and they all looked at it, thinking similar thoughts. They had agreed that they did not need to go to the lowest basement level, since placing the explosive device somewhere above the nest inside the building would provide more than enough damage to eliminate the creatures. They would make their way two floors down – no further than that – before setting up the bomb.

_Sounds easy enough,_ thought Velko. _But this place doesn't know the meaning of easy._

They climbed down the stairs quietly and steadily, this time with Vasquez and Hicks in the lead. Velko felt the blood in his head pound, and his heart thumped loudly in his chest. _How does climbing down two floors manage to feel like two miles,_ he asked himself? 

'Keep cool,' said Hicks looking back at Velko, almost as if he could read his mind. 'We're nearly there...'

Hicks didn't get to finish the rest of his sentence before something silently and swiftly dropped down from above them and clung onto Velko. He heard Call yell out – something like "don't shoot!" – and realized that there were more black shapes coming steadily along the metal platforms towards the rest of them. He wanted to get the kid – Velko, out from under the writhing creature but he couldn't get a clear shot. And he never got the chance. If they didn't run now, none of them would make it. 

                                                    *          *          *

Velko struggled fiercely with the creature as it tried to pin him down, pushing its heavy black head away from his face with both hands. Its face managed to get a centimeter closer to his own, and its secondary jaw repeatedly tried to close down on Velko's flesh, making a snapping sound each time it missed. He couldn't see much, and he had managed to lose his laser blaster in the tussle. He kicked at the creature with his legs in vain. He felt a searing pain in his right hand, as the creature's teeth scraped against the lower part of his wrist, immediately drawing skin and blood with it. He wouldn't last much longer, he knew. Velko then remembered his revolver that was neatly tucked away in its holster by his hip. With his left hand he held the alien's head at bay, and then groped for his side arm with the other. 

He suddenly remembered the burning acid these creatures bled. _This is not the time to be choosy.So what's a little acid compared to a hole in one's face? _Velko pulled up the revolver and pushed the barrel up against the creature's chest. It was almost as if it knew what was going to happen. It snarled and with one last desperate push, Velko yelled and simultaneously shoved the alien's body off of him while he pulled the trigger.

For a moment it seemed as if it hadn't died. It picked him up with remarkable strength and flailed around with Velko in its arms. Both bodies stood precariously near the edge of the platform, before the alien went suddenly limp, dropping Velko off the platform.

He watched as the ground rushed up to strike him in the face, and shut his eyes tight, expecting the worst. But luck was with him, the next floor wasn't too far down. He lay still for almost a minute before moving. When he did, he groaned, he felt as if he had been run over by a fire truck. He turned and felt a hot pain near his hip. He gingerly touched it, and felt his fingers burn too. _He'd got the sucker. Had some acid burns to show for it, but he'd got that creature – it was dead._ The burn wasn't too bad, he could still move. He felt proud of himself, and that gave him the encouragement he required to move on. He sat up slowly, when he heard rapid gunfire coming from somewhere above him. 

Velko did the next thing he thought was best.

He ran.


	12. Chapter 12

'You wanna go back and get him? Do you wanna get killed?!' Hicks was shouting in her face, trying desperately to make her see reason.

Call simply looked back at him, pulling half-heartedly away from his grasp. He was right. _Velko's dead. And now we're all going to die too_. She shook her head, _no_. 'There's a chance he might be alive! And I'm not letting that go!'

'Call. He has the timer, he has the device. He's dead now...and with him went any chance we have of blowing up this place!' He looked around nervously, expecting one of those things to drop straight in the midst of them. 'We need to leave – do you get that?'

'I understand.' she answered. Call was feeling calmer now, more rational. 'But I can't do what you're asking me to. And there's no chance in hell I'm going to let you leave on that ship without knowing for sure if he's dead or not.'

Hicks was just about retort, when he caught himself. If that were Hudson, or Vasquez, or anyone else for that matter...he would have gone back – he wouldn't want to leave them behind. _But this situation is different,_ he kept telling himself. _If Velko is being cocooned, he's as good as dead_. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to reason between logic and his feelings. And his feelings were very strong. 

'Alright.' he conceded. Then he looked at Ripley and Vasquez in turn, questioning them with his eyes. 

Ripley nodded in agreement. Vasquez's eyes looked steeled with determination. 'I'm all for it, man. But we're wasting time here talking while those bastards are probably hunting us down right now.'

'Which way...? asked Ripley, looking around, wondering where they would have to start their search.

'Lowest level.' answered Call. Knowing that that was probably where the main hive was. Where the Queen would be. 

Even Vasquez breathed out heavily, reluctantly allowing an expression of intense worry to cross her face for a brief moment. She'd been down there before. She had seen bodies stripped up to those black walls like pieces of meat hung in a slaughter house. Vasquez gripped her weapon tightly. They had come this far. Now was not the time to get cold feet. And she had a personal score to settle with those creatures. 

'Then what're we waiting for? Let's go.' she said, frustrated with herself for losing her cool.

'Wait,' said Call suddenly, grasping Vasquez's arm. 'Don't you think it's strange how they suddenly stopped attacking us? I mean, there were tons of them crawling up here to get us...'

'They're scared, man...once we let out a couple shots in their direction, they back off.' reasoned Vasquez. She pulled her hand away and then looked back at Call, her impatience showing through her eyes.

'You're right...' said Ripley as if something was dawning on her. 'They just stopped coming. But it's not the guns that did it...I think they're waiting for us to come down there...'

'...And if we do, we're gonna get caught like mice in a heck of a rat trap.' finished Hicks. 

'You mean they're _thinking_? They got a plan?' asked Vasquez.

'Looks like it.' replied Hicks. 'But if we take too long, they're gonna get tired of waiting. Follow me.' He said, as if he'd made up his mind about something. He walked away from the main stairs and continued walking along the platform that ran along the inner side of the tower. 

'Where are you going?' Call stepped alongside him.

'If the tower's still under construction, they're bound to have an alternate set of emergency stairs somewhere else.' explained Ripley from behind, catching on.

They walked quietly, trying to tread softly on the metal walkway when it branched out in three separate directions. The one ahead of them lead to two service elevators and a built in ladder, which ran along a constructed hole in each of the floor levels. Hicks walked up to one of the lifts and pressed a button. The four of them looked up in silence as they saw the lift descend through its caged wall. Once it reached their floor, they went inside.

'Going down.' said Hicks as he pushed the B4 button.

_To hell_, thought Ripley.

                                                                                   *       *       *

The thick metal doors slid open, revealing nothing much except for a short hallway lit up dimly by fluorescent lights. At the end of the hallway, the four of them could not discern anything. Hicks wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand before proceeding with his laser blaster pointed straight ahead of him. Vasquez still held on to her pulse rifle while her side-arm was tucked neatly into her holster by her hip. Call walked backwards, covering them should anything try to sneak up from behind. Ripley remained in the middle holding her blaster so tight that her knuckles turned white. She knew full well that should anything happen to them, this sole piece of machinery would be the only thing that stood between her and death. 

Ripley felt her skin prickle as they emerged from the hallway, and it made her feel very cold. She had been down this road before. All her repressed memories came flooding back as she recalled the wailing klaxons as she stumbled through the narrow hallways on board the Nostromo. The exhaust vents letting out sudden gushes of steam preventing her from seeing even five feet ahead of her...all that noise and fear...the realization that each step she had taken could have been her last. Not knowing and waiting. Not knowing when you were going to die and waiting for something out of your worst nightmares to come and end it all so painfully. 

And it was happening all over again.

Hicks looked behind him, glimpsing Ripley's face contort in agony as she relived the trauma that she'd felt before. He caught her eye and gave her a meaningful look. He wanted to say that if everything did go to hell, and there was no way out, he'd do his best to make sure that they would all die as painlessly as possible. She gave a single, slight nod and it looked as though she understood. 

He looked away and stared in dreaded fascination as the smooth metal walls gradually became thicker and more uneven – they were coated in some sort of viscous substance that had hardened – as they walked along the narrow corridor. Two minutes later they all noted that any trace of human tools of construction were absent – the corridors themselves had turned into curved, black tunnels with that same oozing material sliding down its walls. There was a poor amount of light – each of them had to blink and squint several times over to discern objects around them. 

'Need some light...?' whispered Vasquez as she began to reach for her flashlight.

'No,' replied Hicks. 'Don't want them to see us.'

Ripley leaned forward and spoke to Hicks and Vasquez softly. 'How are we going to find him in this maze?'

'Where would you hide if you were trying not to get killed?' spoke Vasquez.

'I wouldn't hide. I would look for a way out.'

'We would've seen him if he's trying to get to the lifts this way...' said Vasquez.

'He doesn't know the lifts are in this direction.' said Hicks.

'So he's wandering around this place like a lost ant in the wrong hive.'

'We're assuming he's still alive...' said Hicks.

Call said nothing as she overheard their conversation. She did not want to join in. _Velko, if you're still alive...let us know. Please let us know_, she spoke loudly in her mind.

'So are we gonna go around in circles too?' asked Vasquez.

'I know where I'm going,' replied Hicks. 'We're walking towards the main stairs. If he tries to use either one of these exits, we'll see him.'

'And if we don't...?' questioned Ripley.

'Then we leave.' answered a voice from behind them. It was Call. There was no point in risking all their lives to save one individual with the added uncertainty of not knowing whether he was still alive. Her feelings tore at her, but she would deal with them later. If there were another way off the planet, she would have stayed behind to get Velko back. But that wasn't their situation. Call kept telling herself that what she was doing was logical. But then why did it feel so wrong?

No one replied. Each of them knew what it meant to leave someone behind. Because it could just as easily have been one of them instead. 

                                                                       *       *       *

They had been walking for two minutes in complete silence, looking around for any sign of Velko. A torn bag pack, clothes...anything. But there was nothing they could see. Call started thinking about how he had decided to follow her off the Amadeus and had sneaked off the ship unnoticed. Just one small decision was all it took to change the course of his life. Just one. And he was just a kid, he had said that he had only been in one serious combat situation before, it was – Call blinked suddenly as something caught her eye. She looked ahead of her, down the tunnel they had walked down minutes before. The walls were moving. 

'Run like hell...' she said, not realizing that her voice was barely audible.

The others turned around to face her, when she stopped walking backwards, spun around and shouted. 'Make for the stairs! GO!'

They required no explanation and started running while hearing shots being fired from behind them as Call tried to buy them some time. They ran in single file, when suddenly Hicks – who was in the lead – came to a skidding halt. The tunnel widened into a large space that was illuminated by a dull red glow. Hicks looked around slowly towards the light source which was a blast furnace of some sort – probably for waste disposal purposes, he thought numbly. Alongside the railings that enclosed the furnace he noticed several aliens – some still clinging onto the walls whilst some stood in plain sight...waiting.

'The bastards...' spoke Vasquez in a low tone.

Ripley opened fire first on the nearest creature and didn't wait to watch it fall dead as she took aim at another. Vasquez and Hicks followed her lead while they created a small circular perimeter, fighting back to back against something each of them knew would overcome them sooner or later. 

'Try to get to the stairs!' shouted Ripley, trying to offer some hope as the black masses crept growing nearer and nearer. She could see their dreadfully familiar faces again, and she felt the old fear intensify so much that she thought she would die before they got to her. She hated the sight of their elongated heads, their cold teeth bared and ready. And they looked like unearthly demons as they advanced, bathed in the red glow of the furnace. Then she remembered what they did to Dallas. And Lambert, Brett and Parker...and Newt's family. Her eyes burned angrily with tears. She kept pulling the trigger, determined that she would take as many of them as she could down with her.

'Where the hell is Call?!' shouted Hicks as he glanced around them.

No one answered. Everything was going crazy again...nothing else mattered except survival.

Vasquez yelled out in both pain and anger as some acid sprayed against her leg, and immediately began to eat through her armor. Hicks slammed in another cartridge of ammunition into his pulse rifle, letting out short rapid bursts of fire – trying to conserve ammo, all the while moving slowly with his other two companions towards the stairs. Ripley felt her body grow colder as her blaster grew warmer with each shot she fired. 

It wouldn't be long now.

                                                                    *       *       *

Call had remained behind for a few seconds while the others ran ahead, firing at anything that moved. Her movements were precise, calculated. Even her aim was spot on target. But she began to worry as her weapon started to overheat, and started moving backwards slowly. And it seemed as if this was exactly what the aliens had anticipated. They stopped holding back, and crept forward at a slightly faster pace. Call was just about to turn around and run when something yanked her – seemingly into the wall on her right – and she gasped, ready to let out a string of successive shots at whatever it was that was holding her. 

'-me! It's me!' said the voice.

She looked up at Velko's face. Blood was running down his left cheek and his wrist looked pretty mangled, but other than that, he seemed alright. She closed her eyes and breathed out. He didn't give her time to recover, he grabbed her arm as they both started running down yet another tunnel to what they both hoped would be safety.

'The timer's dead. I fell...and it's broken,' he panted as they both ran. 

She looked at him and noticed that he still had his bag pack strapped to his back. A spasm of hope shot through her. 'But you still have the nitro-bomb?'

'It's useless without the timer...we need the computer inside the timer to set the damn thing off...' 

They reached a tight corner and Velko turned left. Call followed at his side as he continued to talk. 'Call, I've seen her...the Queen, she's huge, she lays the eggs...'

'Did she see you?' asked Call. He nodded, but said nothing as she looked at him incredulously. 'And you're still alive?'

'They were gonna kill me...Jesus, they were everywhere...' he stopped running, trying to pull himself together. 'But I had the bomb in my hand, I wanted to set it off then and there. I didn't want to die having one of those things inside of me,' he shut his eyes as Call placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. 'Then I saw that the stupid computer timer was smashed in. I looked up, expecting one of those things to leap onto me any second...but they didn't. They stopped coming towards me. I dunno what...what was going on, I think they knew what I was trying to do. But they didn't know I couldn't do it. So I held the nitro pack up...I wanted to show them...and I walked outta there. I'm still alive.' 

Call looked at him with sympathetic eyes. He was still trying to come to grips with this fact. That they hadn't killed him... She immediately looked back up at him, and he caught this sudden change in expression. 'Can you take me to where she is?' she asked.

'I want to leave.' he said, shaking his head repeatedly. 'Please say we don't have to go back there.'

'We can't let the others die. If we can control the Queen, then we can control the entire colony. She can make her soldiers back off.' She looked him straight in the eye. 'I know you don't want Ripley and the others to die and I know you're afraid.' She nodded in the direction ahead of them. 'Show me the way, Sebastian. You have to trust me on this, okay?'

He nodded, and wiped the dried blood off the edge of his eyes wearily. 'I trust you, Call. I trust you.'

                                                                   *       *       *

She walked alongside him as he led her to the center of the nest. They passed one or two dead bodies – human, mangled, still strapped in place by the hardened substance they had observed earlier. Their now-pale faces had contorted into masks of agony and it was all Call could do to stick to her task without breaking down into tears of fear, anger and sadness. _It would all end soon. It's going to be over,_ she kept telling herself. She knew – from the minute that Velko had told her about his narrow escape – what she had to do. It was all too evident. _Isn't there some other way? There must be some other way... No, Call. There isn't. Search yourself – you know this to be true. So help me God, this is what I have to do...please help me to be strong..._

Her stride grew heavy as the realization of what she would do grew on her, weighing her down. Her feelings were swirling around her head in a tumult, making her dizzy. A tearing emotion, like a knife through her soul, wanted to make her cry out. Something caught in her throat as she choked back tears. But there wasn't time for this. She must be who she was made to be. The android. The artificial person programmed to function by responding to logic. And the situation had presented itself to her in its most obvious form. Here it was. The chance to save her friends and a chance to save the future, sitting in the palm of her hand. If she threw it away now, she'd never forgive herself. 

Telling herself that she had a choice was a lie. So what else was there for her to do?

**AUTHOR'S NOTE (****27/02/04****):**

Thanks to Anise for pointing out to me the thing about the nuke...I actually had addressed that fact before in one of my chapters (10 or 11 – I can't remember which), but I forgot to carry it through. Discrepancies like that annoy me too.

Sorry for the long wait...have a lot of work flinging itself at me, but I'm going to try my best to keep up – because I really do enjoy writing, and I'm determined to complete at least one story.

Again, thanks for all your reviews – they're both encouraging and helpful.

P.S. Well, this is interesting: I can see that I got reviews, but I can't read 'em. L 


	13. Chapter 13

'Vasquez? You alright?' asked Hicks, as he kept his finger pinned down on his trigger, letting off shot after shot.

She gritted her teeth and moaned, trying desperately to ignore the excruciating pain in her leg. 'Don't worry about me! I'll- TO YOUR LEFT!' she suddenly shouted.

He swung his gun just in time to shoot an alien he hadn't noticed earlier. It let out a high-pitched sound as it writhed on the ground, dying. Hicks drew in ragged gasps of air – there were far too many of them. Soon, they would be overwhelmed, and after that...he didn't want to know what would follow. _How much longer now? Jesus, how much longer?_

'Vasquez! You can't do any good with your leg! Get in between us!' shouted Ripley. She saw Vasquez hold tightly onto her wounded leg while fending off the advancing creatures with her weapon. Vasquez shot Ripley back a look immersed in both pain and anger, but devoid of fear. She wasn't going to quit now.

'DO IT!' said Hicks to Vasquez.

'No way man! No way in hell!' she paused to gather up her strength. 'We go down fighting!'

Hicks didn't stop to argue. He felt simultaneously exhausted and on edge. He looked around him, wide-eyed. Where one alien fell, it would be replaced by yet another soldier who seemingly crept up from nowhere. But Hicks noticed that the mass of creatures hadn't charged the three of them like a swarm of wasps would. No, it was apparent that they wanted as minimum casualties as possible. This was what held them back and this was what gave him a glimmer of hope. Keep fighting, he told himself. Just keep fighting. 

Ripley looked repeatedly towards the direction of the main stairs. It seemed further away than ever. She noticed that the three of them had given up heading in that direction. It looked as if a moving black wall had taken shape there, blocking their only chance of escape. 

'Hicks,' said Ripley.

'I know! I know!' he shouted back. 

'It doesn't have to end this way...' she said, almost to herself.

'I'll make sure it doesn't.' he replied. 

'There isn't much time!'

'Give Call a chance...we gotta hold on a couple more minutes!' With a sinking feeling, he knew what it was that Ripley wanted him to do. But he was too afraid to do it.

Ripley didn't answer. They didn't even know where Call was or what she was doing. She didn't think Call had a chance. And neither did they.

                                                                                       *       *       *

Velko paused at a fork in the tunnel. Call glanced at him for a second and said, 'Which way?'

'I'm not sure.' He looked down the right hallway and took in a deep breath. 'It's this one.'

'You're positive?' she asked.

'Yeah...' he swallowed. '-smell. It's the smell. I'll never forget it.'

She started walking into the tunnel. It took her a second to notice that Velko wasn't at her side nor was he behind her. She turned around to see him still standing at the tunnel's fork. Call beckoned for him to follow and he shook his head. She walked back towards him and spoke in a fierce whisper. 'Listen to me! Our friends are out there,' she stuck her index finger out and pointed behind him, 'and with every minute we waste, we're gambling with their lives. I know you're afraid – I'm feeling the same fear so badly that I'd rather set off this bomb right now. But I can't. And I won't. Because we have a chance to live, and I'm not gonna give that up. And I'm not gonna let you give it up too. Pull yourself together and let's get this damned thing over with.' She looked him steadily in the eye. 'Please, Velko. I'm begging you.'

He looked back at her and shut his eyes tightly. Saying nothing, he continued down the tunnel with Call. 

She held her hand out to him, indicating that she wanted to have the explosive device. He bent down to unzip his bag pack when he felt that old familiar fear come over him. He looked behind him and shuddered at what he saw. It was crawling on all fours making its way towards them steadily. And what made Velko so afraid was that the creature seemed as if it was taking its time in hunting them down. It was in no hurry. This was its own territory and there was nothing for it to fear. 

Velko felt his something tighten around his arm as Call yanked him up off the ground and onto his feet. They both started running, and Call began to shout something that Velko couldn't hear at first. Other thoughts flew through his mind. How far behind the two of them was it? Was it gaining?

'-how much further?' repeated Call.

'Not too far!' he almost slipped while he was running, but caught himself. 'I think we're going in the right direction...'

He panted heavily, not just from tiredness but from fear itself. At the moment his world was swirling with madness that kept sucking him back in every time he imagined that he had escaped. Running back to the source of all this madness made him nauseous, he didn't – he couldn't – face it again. But he trusted Call, and he drew all the strength he needed to do what he had to do from this belief that she would see things through. He felt ashamed for being so afraid – in normal combat situations he'd felt fear – but it was nothing like this. And he'd had enough pride to try to maintain his calm, without betraying his fears, which helped him to think through a tough predicament. But here, now, he didn't care what anyone thought. He didn't care if he died quickly. He just wanted never to see those things again. He wanted it to end. 

Velko turned slightly while running, to see if it was still chasing them. He saw nothing, but kept running. It felt as though his legs had a will of their own and would go on forever. They passed several more bodies, but Velko didn't stop to get a good look. He didn't want to. _Where was the bloody nest,_ he asked himself? It wasn't-

He skidded to a halt.

They reached the end of the darkened hallway which immediately opened up into a large space. Velko and Call looked about them, their awe bathed in dread. The area was filled with eggs. Each egg was about four feet tall, with its tip folded up, closing its opening, like the mutilated petals of a flower. They could vaguely discern something moving or floating about within each of the eggs, but they couldn't bring themselves to look harder. Call looked around, trying to take in the population of the eggs when her eye was drawn to some kind of large flexible pipe. Its walls were thin, membranous. She noticed that something large and round was moving within, reaching the end of the pipe. It slid out, covered in a sticky slime-like substance, onto the ground. It took Call a few seconds to realize that what she was looking at was no pipe. It was an ovidepositor – an extremely long one. Her eye followed its length to the body it was attached to...the Queen. She was massive, and her body was such a strong color of black that it seemed as if to dominate the entire space they were in. The back of her head fanned out into a heavy black crown, like the corona of a dark star. She cocked her head to one side as she spotted the intruders, and hissed at them, baring all of her teeth.

Several aliens, many that Velko hadn't noticed before, advanced towards the two people.

'Call...' whispered Velko.

'Okay...here goes nothing. Let's see if she remembers this.' her thoughts were no longer contained. She held up the nitrogen-based explosive pack in the air and waved it about. 'Take a good look at this! Take a good _long_ look!' she shouted.

Velko looked around him. The creatures hadn't stopped advancing.

'Call...' he repeated, with a greater degree of urgency in his voice.

'Take my weapon and fire it at one of the eggs.' said Call, not once taking her eye off the Queen.

'Jeez – that's suicide!' 

'Just do as I say!' snapped Call, still continuing to stare at the Queen.

Velko grabbed her laser blaster, and shakily took aim at the nearest egg. He fired a shot.

The Queen immediately stopped hissing, but kept her teeth bared. She then let out a sound, barely audible, weren't it so quiet. 

Velko opened in mouth slightly as he watched the alien soldiers slink back – not retreating, but not advancing either. They seemed coiled, tense. Ready to spring at any second if ordered to by the Queen. He looked back at Call, whose eyes were still fixed on the large creature before them.

'Shoot another one.' she instructed.

'Wha-'

Call shot him the briefest but most meaningful of looks – she knew was she was doing. He raised the weapon and fired again. This time it appeared as if Velko hit a sensitive spot of the egg, it burst open, releasing its fluid contents all over the floor. 

'Let's hope she understands that we mean business.' said Call, determined.

                                                                    *       *       *

'Dammit! That's my last cartridge of ammo...Ripley! Don't waste yours on the ones at the back, fire at the closest ones!' shouted Hicks. He winced as he looked down at his right arm. An acid burn had begun to eat away at his skin, and was working its way towards the center of his arm.

'I've got to do it now Hicks – now, before they take us!' Ripley shouted back.

He looked at her, and then at Vasquez. Maybe she was right. Any chance they had at escape was long gone. Call was dead. Velko was dead too. And now it was their turn. Only they had the luxury of going out the way they wanted to. 

'Okay...let's do it!' he said, taking in a deep breath and closing his eyes.

'Holy shit...' spoke Vasquez quietly, almost in reverence. 

Hicks opened his eyes to see what she was referring to. He couldn't believe it - they were backing off. One by one, the aliens slid away, back into the shadows. The area before them was empty. It was almost as if they had never even been there.

'Madre de Dios, I will never smoke again...it's a fucking miracle!' shouted Vasquez, smiling.

Ripley and Hicks couldn't keep their immense relief from spreading; they looked at each other and smiled.

                                                                    *       *      * 

'Velko.' said Call, 'The nitro-pack has a socket that connects to the timer. Where is it?'

'I told you – the timer's smashed in. The computer in it doesn't work.' he looked at her nervously.

'But the computer chip inside the pack, connected to the fuse, that works fine...?

'Yeah, but I don't see how...' he paused for a brief second, as if considering something and then stared at Call. He spoke slowly, taking in what he was saying. 'You're going to set it off. You're the timer. You'll let us leave while you stay here and...blow everything up.'

She took her eyes off the Queen for the first time in a few minutes. 'Who better than me, Velko?' her voice cracked, as if she regretted what she was doing, but was seeing it through anyway. 'Created to protect humankind. That's what I'm supposed to be doing... _No_, that's not right,' she shook her head emphatically. 'I want to do this, Sebastian. And believe it or not, I know it's not because of my programming. I want to help you. And I want to stop this nightmare for good. Because it's my nightmare too.'

'There's another way!' Velko's voice started to break as felt a tear roll down his dirt-stained cheek. 'There's got to be another way!'

'There isn't.' spoke Call, a-matter-of-factly.

_She's lost all her sense, she doesn't see_... Velko tried to convince her. 'But what makes you think that _thing_'s going to listen to us?! She's gonna kill us the minute we turn our backs and run out of here!'

'Which is why I'm staying behind. It's the only way. I'm giving you fifteen minutes to leave. Take it.' 

'NO!!!' shouted Velko. He let the tears run freely now. His face contorted in pain. But it wasn't because of his wounds. 

Call was trying her best to ignore him. She bent her head down to pull a thin wire out of her arm. She continued to look engrossed in what she was doing, all the while trying to choke back the cries welling up within her. 

'I won't let you!' He sprang onto Call, and tried to wrestle her wire away from the nitro-pack. 

She grabbed onto his wrist with surprising strength and wrenched his arm away, not painfully, but forcefully. 'Take this chance to live, for me. Get out of here while you can.' she inserted the wire into the socket and continued to talk. 'Please. Otherwise what I've done would have been in vain. You're a great soldier; did I ever tell you that? Better than I ever was. I could never think clearly in a tight situation...until now. Everything's much clearer now.' She stopped talking and looked at him. 'WARNING!' rang a loud automated voice that seemed to emanate from Call. 'YOU HAVE T MINUS 15 MINUTES TO EVACUATE THE PREMISES BEFORE DETONATION.'

He looked at her, tilting his head to one side, not saying a word. But his eyes were filled with pain and tears. 

'Go.' said Call, in her voice again.

He shook his head 'no', as voice that wasn't Call's echoed around the tower. 'YOU HAVE T MINUS 14 MINUTES AND 10 SECONDS BEFORE DETONATION'. 

She gave one last look at Velko and then turned to set her attention on the Queen. 

                                                          *       *       *

Sebastian Velko stumbled through the darkened hallway, trying to find his way towards the main stairwell. His eyes were blurred with tears and his head with confusion. He didn't seem to pay much attention to getting out, he had a vague idea of where he was going – but at the same time, he didn't seem to care. Everything he ran past, rushed by him in a torrent of blurry images. He could hear Call's voice – _no, that wasn't her voice,_ he corrected himself – sounding behind him, growing slightly fainter as he ran further from it. He could hear it, but he wasn't listening. He didn't know how much time he had left.

And he didn't care.

                                                            *       *       *

'What the hell is that?' said Vasquez, as she heard Call's automated voice echo around the tower. The three of them were climbing the main staircase, there were only two more floors to go.

'...It's Call.' answered Ripley. They all stopped in their tracks.

'She's alive – c'mon!' said Hicks, as he started to turn around without hesitation, to go back down. 

'No, wait!' Ripley held him back. 'She's managed to set the timer for the bomb. That's the warning response system message. She's probably on her way right now!'

'There she is!' pointed Vasquez – towards a shape scrambling up the stairs. 

They squinted their eyes in the dark, trying to make out whether Call had been injured. 

'Oh my God...that's not Call, it's Velko.' spoke Ripley. 'I think he's hurt.'

Velko ran up towards his friends, and stopped momentarily, panting and brushing something away from his eyes as he spoke. 'Call...Call's not coming. She told me to go. We...we don't have much time.'

Hicks looked at Velko intently. The kid looked like he only had minor injuries, but there was something else. It took him a second to realize that walking away, and leaving Call behind was what was weighing down on him. _And why shouldn't it..._thought Hicks.

_'Please_...there's not much time.' pleaded Velko. And to himself; _not much time before I start to change my mind and go back_.

Nobody replied. Instead they started running up the stairs, two steps at a time, willing their bodies to work harder, faster. 

They reached the main level, and ran towards the large entrance, through which they had come in before. Their shoes clinked in succession on the metallic floor and they were breathing out rapidly and loudly. They could hear the wind howling outside, and soon they were in the midst of it, running towards the dropship from the _Amadeus_. 

                                                                    *       *       *

'WARNING! YOU NOW HAVE T MINUS 3 MINUTES TO REACH MINIMUM SAFE DISTANCE'

Call looked back up the Queen, thinking. Did she have any idea of what Call was doing? If she did, she didn't let on. It was obvious that the survival of the Queen's colony was much more important than the elimination of a few humans, thought Call. That's why she had somehow summoned more soldiers to her – for added protection. As long as Call stood where she was, the Queen wouldn't do anything rash –anything to her disadvantage. 

Call smiled. It's the first time she'd felt at peace since she had decided to leave her world, her time. Just a few minutes before she would have completed what she had set out to do. And Ripley...Ripley would not have to go through all that pain of living someone else's memories, and feeling someone else's nightmares. It was going to be over.

They say that before you die, you see images of your life flash before your eyes. But the only memory that Call could picture vividly – that she _wanted_ to picture vividly – was that of something that had happened a few years after she was newly created. She had been programmed to dispose of the alien and Ripley 8 herself, and to do so, she had to pose as a crew member aboard the Betty – a pirate ship if there ever was one. It was run by a mercenary group of individuals, led by Elgyn and Hillard. She had made fast friends with Vriess – one of Elgyn's crew. They had spent some good times together – and it was one those times that Call remembered.

Vriess was crippled from the waist down, and he moved about with the help of his well-equipped mobile chair. Call could almost see it before her now, and smell the acrid metallic scent it emitted. Vriess was showing her how to assemble a taser weapon in less than a minute, and Call was being a very difficult learner. She despised weapons, and had told him so. He had replied by saying that she was no longer in the florist industry, and that one did what one had to, to survive. Call was too much of an idealist, he had said. 

_"What's wrong in trying to make things a little better? If everyone did..." she told Vriess, before she was interrupted. _

_"I think what you gotta do is face facts. It's dog-eat-dog, kid. The world's spiraling out of control – there's gonna come a time when humankind isn't going to get any more chances. Because there's not much good left in the world anymore. You see, we're too selfish to give up something that we can rather keep for ourselves." He shook his head. "No way that's gonna change."_

Call smiled, remembering. She would see him soon, she knew. And she would prove that there were such things as second chances. 

She looked away from her memory, and breathed in while closing her eyes. She was trying to remember something, a place she had visited once on earth with Ripley...she had never gone back there.

Until now.


	14. Epilogue

HICKS

'So this goes on the record then – your explanation for the destruction of our entire facility is because of a faulty nuclear reactor?' Burt Lancaster loosened his tie and ran a hand through his thinning hair nervously. 

Corporal Hicks looked back at the man, his gaze steady. He said nothing. 

'Corporal. He asked you a question. I suggest you answer it.' Hicks looked up at Major Truman. He really had nothing against the Major personally – it was the Company representative he couldn't stand. And the fact that the military was now acting as a lackey to them, it made Hicks nauseous inside. He wished that for once, people could stand firm by their morals. If that were so, he wouldn't have to lie like this.

'I believe that I've already answered that question.' replied Hicks, not lifting his gaze from Lancaster.

The man shifted his feet in anxiety. A lot was riding on this. If he could get the military to claim that the deaths of all those families was due to reasons unknown, he would be rewarded – perhaps even promoted, because then they wouldn't have to pay millions to the relatives of the deceased. The Company would then be proven to be not responsible for such unforeseen, yet obviously terribly sad, circumstances. But since the reactors were all designed and manufactured by Weyland Yutani, the reactors' flaws would be the Company's downfall. Not in terms of money – the Company could easily afford to pay the millions due, but if news of this leaked to the press – and Lancaster was sure it would – the media would sink their claws into it and wouldn't let go. The bad publicity could ruin everything. 

He had to think of something. He pulled out a thin file from his briefcase and looked through it to check to see if there was something he had missed. He paused on page three and looked up from his papers. 'Um...I have here a statement made by one of our own – by that I mean Weyland Yutani's... He was with you on your rescue operation,' he paused emphasizing those two last words ever so slightly to see if the Corporal would react to it. He didn't. Lancaster continued. 'Burke. You might remember him.'

'How could I forget?' said Hicks.

'Well um...he claims that you were attacked by unidentifiable organisms. And those are what killed the colonists as well as many of your comrades.' finished Lancaster.

Hicks stood up from his chair, temper rising. He knew exactly what the man before him was trying to get him to say. But there was no chance in hell he would say it. He would lie like he'd never lied before to keep the secret of LV-426 safe. 'Is this a joke?' he looked at Major Truman incredulously. 'My people died as well as all those families and you want me to say that little green men were behind all of it?'

Hicks watched, inwardly pleased, as Major Truman glared at Lancaster, who was growing increasingly nervous by the minute. He was treading on thin ice. Hicks continued. 'My people died trying to rescue those families. They were crushed by a tower that had begun to crumble due to a problem with your construction. Now I can repeat this to you and your damned cronies as much as you want – but there's no way I'm going to let you dishonor their memories with this ridiculous half-assed story!'

Lancaster felt as if he needed to assert himself. He stood up straighter and said, 'So you're saying that our Company representative is lying?'

Hicks shook his head, as if in frustration. 'Your friend possibly took a blow to the head because of your falling debris, and he just _might've_ dreamed up everything that you're now conjuring out of your hat of excuses. Now I'm not gonna sit around here any longer listening to this crap.' He looked at Major Truman. 'Are we done here?' 

'No, no we aren't-' began Lancaster before he was interrupted by Truman.

'Yes, Corporal. Thank you for your patience. You're free to go.' He then turned to Lancaster as Hicks left the room. 'We've done everything we can; we've volunteered our time and our people to assist you in your investigation in every way possible. There's nothing more here Mr. Lancaster. Go home.'

'But what am I going to put in my report?'

'The truth – that Weyland Yutani screwed up big time.' said Major Truman as he turned his back on Lancaster and walked out.

                                                    *       *       *

Hicks sat at the bus stop, inhaling the damp air, as small droplets of rain began to fall around him. He enjoyed the rain more than he ever had before. He hadn't realized how fresh it could smell when it fell down and bathed the earth. He stuck his hands deep into his pockets and sighed.

A week ago, he had spent a considerable amount of time with Velko...before he had left. He felt as if he had to give the kid something, something to hold onto after everything they had gone through together. Hicks was no shrink, but he knew the signs of depression when he saw them. The kid had refused food for the first few days – simply living on water and some tasteless crackers. Hicks had offered his own flat for the kid to come stay in – at least until he recovered. He had heard Velko talk loudly in his sleep – nothing unexpected, given the trauma they had both been through – but his dreams weren't of the aliens. He was dreaming of Call. 

Hicks had confronted him, forcing him to talk about it. He said it would be good for him to let it all out. The façade of being macho was something tiring and unimportant especially when one really got down to what life was really all about. It was difficult for the kid to begin, but once he did, he had broken down. He had cried all through the night. Hicks felt like he'd gotten close to someone outside the combat zone for the first time in a long while. When morning came, it was apparent that Velko was getting better, and a few days later he'd begun to regain his appetite. _Call was a special person,_ Hicks had said. _But there are still other special people in your life who need you now. Life's too short for regrets. You'd think we'd learn that after what we went through,_ Hicks had said with a laugh.

Two days later, Velko left. To go back to his own home, his own time. He needed to see his family, he said. Hicks missed him and again thought about his own words. _Life's too short for regrets_.

When he got his military leave, he decided he would go pay Ripley a visit.

**RIPLEY**

She stood in silence, enjoying it, savoring it. She looked at the tree – realizing at the same time that it was real and that it had been such a long time since she had last seen one. It was an Oak tree, just a few feet high – but it held promise. 

'Ripley!' screamed a voice behind her, causing her to turn. 

The little blonde girl ran faster than her legs could carry her towards Ripley's open arms. 'You kept your promise!' she shouted.

'And what made you think I wouldn't? You didn't have enough faith in me, I see.' teased Ripley. She picked the girl up and carried her. '_Whoof__!_You're heavy! What have they been feeding you since I left?'

'Ha ha...' mocked Newt jokingly. She pulled at one of Ripley's curls, twisting around her fingers. 'Where's Hicks?' asked Newt.

'He had to go back to answer some questions, kiddo.'

'About the...monsters? Is he going to tell people about them?'

'No. He's going to say that the reason why the people died is because of a broken reactor that blew up.' explained Ripley.

'But that's lying,' spoke Newt, unsure of whether this was a good thing.

'Sometimes we lie to protect someone – for their own good. That's what he's doing.'

Newt nodded, understanding. 'Is he also going to lie about the new people? Where are they anyway?' asked Newt, looking around.

'They're not here...' answered Ripley, not sure of how to explain this to her.

'I can see that, silly...where are they now?'

Ripley smiled at her retort. 'They went home.'

'Can we go visit them? To say thank you?'

'No. I don't think so. Their home is far away. Too far for us to visit. But we can go visit Hicks sometime in a few weeks. He gets military leave then.'

'But how will the new people know that we want to say thank you? They'll start to think we're very rude. How can they know we're grateful?' said Newt with a frown.

'You know something Newt,' she looked up the sky. The sun had begun to set, leaving purple and orange clouds as traces of its presence, 'I think they already know.'

**VELKO**

PRESENT DAY 

ILLINOIS

'Look kid, it's like I said – I don't know of anyone with that name in this block! I'm the bloody landlord! I've been the bloody landlord here for over ten years!' The stout man puffed heavily as they climbed the stairs to the seventh floor. His bad mood wasn't eased by the fact that the elevators in his building had broken down due to a power outage.

'I just need to make sure.' said Velko as he followed the man. He pulled his black coat close about him. Apparently there was no heating either. 

'I don't know why you need to see – especially if you ain't even considering renting the place.' He muttered something else under his breath. Something Velko preferred not to hear. 

They finally reached the apartment, and the landlord pulled out a bunch of keys, cursing softly to himself. He stuck on in the door lock and turned the key with some difficulty. He held the door open for Velko. 'It's the worst apartment in this building. No heating, plumbing sucks...no one's lived here for seven years. And the last tenant was a Carlos Ruiz – I definitely ain't heard of no Helen Ripley.'

Velko sighed as he began to walk inside. 'It's _Ellen_ Ripley.' He looked at the man. 'Mind if I take a look inside?'

The man shrugged. It made no difference to him now.

Velko walked inside and looked at the small living room. There was hardly anything save for a lonely couch and a moldy side table, keeping it company. He checked the one bedroom but saw no signs that anyone had been living there. The mattress frame was devoid of a mattress, and there were at least two layers of dust covering the floor. He came back out and sighed.

'You wanna check the kitchen cupboards too?' sneered the landlord sarcastically.

'No.' He smiled at the man. It wasn't a sincere smile. 'That won't be necessary. Thank you for your time.' 

Velko walked down the poorly lit stairwell and smiled to himself. He hoped that Call knew – wherever she was now – that she had accomplished what she had set out to do, and had given them all – past and future generations included – a second shot at life. He gave a small laugh as he remembered how he had suspected Call of more sinister intentions just before he had left the _Amadeus_. But his laugh fell short as he reminded himself of what she had given up so that he and so many others could live. Her 'sinister intentions' could not have been any nobler. But he wished it didn't have to end this way. Velko wanted someone to share the pain with, someone who understood – someone who had been there with him.

He had gone to see Bohr when they had arrived back at their own time while she was recuperating in hospital. The doctors there believed that she could be discharged within a week. He had waited for her to return home to tell her the news about Call. She had asked him to leave – she needed time to comprehend and take in everything that had happened to them. Then, two days later, she contacted him and asked him to do one last thing that she believed Call would have done herself. 

_"Go see her,"_ she had said.

_"You mean...if she's still here,"_

_"Call did say that she didn't want her to suffer any more. She would want to make sure, don't you think?" _asked Bohr.

_"I do."_ he had answered back, understanding.

He opened the front door to the building and welcomed in the fresh air. He walked onto the sidewalk, breathed in deeply, and was grateful that he was able to do so.

It had been two weeks since he had last seen his family. Two weeks too long.

                                                                       *       *       *

The landlord watched from the window as Velko walked away from the building, pulling his collar up to keep the wind out. The man walked around the apartment – he wanted to make sure the kid hadn't touched anything while he wasn't looking. Not that there was much of anything to touch. 

The bedroom looked the same. He walked over to the couch and squinted at something that caught his eye. It was an uneven hole – that looked as if it had been burned in. But on closer inspection, it looked as if the hole ran very deep – almost completely through the couch. No fire burn could have caused it, he noted. Naw, it was something else. He shook his head and stood back up, deciding to forget about the matter. Some of the freaks that lived in his building... Boy, did he have stories to tell...

**AUTHOR'S NOTE (****14/03/04****):**

Hey guys – I realized that one thing that I had so thoughtlessly forgotten to do after I finished this story was to thank everyone for their reviews. They really helped me make this story better. I'm rather happy with the fact that I've actually managed to complete a story – usually I only get about three quarters of the way through. Let's hope this doesn't turn out to be a one-time thing!

For those of you interested – I've actually started another story about a week ago – I'm a big fan of the X Men comics and movies – so if you would like to read my story, entitled "Two Soldiers" feel free to do so.

Alrighty then, I bid you folks farewell, for now. 


End file.
